Post by Saynt on May 18, 2015 3:43:10 GMT
I do not claim credit for any of the AotW thread, that honor goes to the original authors from the en-forums on Rackham's old website.
This one is from forum member Scyld:
CYNWALL
The Republic of Lanever
--=- Army Overview -=--
Strengths:
- Good discipline – with typical character DIS ratings hovering around 6, with our without leadership, the Cynwall stand a reasonable chance of going first unless they are facing an extreme high DIS army such as Griffins or Dwarves.
- Good magic – The Republic of Lanever really shines when it comes to spell buffs.
- Good initiative – Most Cynwall units either have an INI of 4, or can boost their INI to 4 with Concentration.
- Above average speed (12.5) – While not exceptional, their speed of 12.5 means that they have a distinct advantage over most of the other armies in the game in this regard – particularly against Dwarven armies and against Acheron.
- Highly synergistic – Most units have useful special abilities, and when used in tandem, become much more powerful than they would be otherwise.
- High numbers of shooters – Cynwall have five separate shooter troops that run the range of troop types, from basic all purpose cannon fodder to elite melee to elite ranged.
- High resistance to FEAR – Typically, FEAR will be a non-issue for this army, lacking some really bad rolls. Much of the army is actually outright immune to FEAR.
- Versatile – With an extremely wide range of skills and abilities, about the only thing the Cynwall *can’t* do is simply bull rush their way through an enemy force.
Weaknesses:
- Highly synergistic – The flip side of great synergy is that you actually have to attain this synergy, or your army isn’t anywhere near as effective as it otherwise would be. Cynwall don’t play like most armies; they take an annoyingly long time to figure out. When you are first starting with this army, be prepared to lose. A lot.
- Strictly average combat stats – The strength of the Cynwall fighter tends to be in its abilities, and not in its STR or RES. Short of the Dragon, the closest thing the Cynwall have to a beat-stick is the Nova with a STR of 9 and a RES of 10 for 62 AP.
- Expensive units – These elves tend to be expensive. Their basic troops start at 17 AP, and it only goes up from there. Akhamials are cheaper, but they pay for it in stat hits.
- Glass-jawed characters (some exceptions apply) – Only one Lanever hero has a RES higher than 7. Most of their heroes, while very skillful, cannot take a hit.
--=- Basic Troops -=--
Selsym – Selsym are nothing to shout about, but aren’t terrible, either. With average stats, Concentration / 1 (INI, ATT) and priced at 17 AP, they can fill the role of cannon fodder about as well as anything in the Cynwall army is able to. Unless you are in dire need of the extra models, it is usually worth it to upgrade to the Veteran profile.
Selsym Veterans – It’s almost always worth it to choose the lance (+1 INI, which gives you an initiative of 5 if you also invest your Concentration point into it) over the saber (+1 ATT) here, but either way, the Selsym Veteran is a good, solid unit. They start with nearly the same stats as your basic Selsym (+1 DIS, +1 DEF), and then add Concentration / 1 (INI, ATT, STR), Bravery, and Feint at the cost of an additional 7 AP. If they have any real drawback, it is their average combat statistics. Unless you are facing goblins, you are not going to win any slugfests with the Veterans; they are best used in support of the more powerful units.
--=- Ranged Support -=--
Azure Hunters – These are your basic Cynwall ranged unit. And when I say ‘basic,’ I mean ‘elite.’ With an aim of four plus sharpshooter, they are free to shoot and move at short range without the possibility of missing. Even at medium range, they will hit their target at least 50% of the time even if they move. As an added bonus, their helianthic crossbows (STR 6, 20-40-60) can be enhanced with spells that target helianthic equipment. Assault firing with Azures is not recommended, but sharp shooter combined with Bull’s Eye can be a fearsome thing, allowing you to roll up your sixes for additional damage without fear of failure. These are a prime target for buffing with Helianthic Masterpiece, which will allow them to reroll their shots if either, A: they miss, or B: you don’t roll as high as you wanted.
It may be tempting to remain still even when the enemy has closed to short range in order to get off one more bull’s eye shot. Don’t. Unless you are absolutely sure it will kill the enemy fig, you will be better served in shooting and then moving back out of charge range.
--=- Generalists -=--
Akhamials – As the cheapest of the Cynwall constructs, the Akhamial is an interesting unit. They are slightly slower than the rest of the Cynwall army, and with an aim of three, a modest ranged weapon (STR 4, 10-15-20), below average combat stats, Construct, Small Size, and Devotion / 2, they can do a little bit of everything, but not very well. Still, they are often worth having, especially if you are bringing magicians along for the ride. Akhamials also come equipped with helianthic mechanisms, which can be enhanced by spells that target helianthic equipment. Like all shooters, Akhamials have the bull’s eye and assault fire abilities. In their case, Assault Fire is the more useful, particularly if you win discipline against a fear causing army. As Constructs, Akhamials are immune to both FEAR and toxic, and so can be perfect for tying up expensive, high fear units (or highly toxic figs). Properly utilized, these little mechanical mana-bugs can pull some surprising tricks, and at 14 points each, you can afford to bring along a goodly number of them; unless you bring a caster along, though, you are limited to a maximum of three in an army. Note: Cynwall constructs are immune to both ‘banishment’ and ‘supreme banishment.’
Costing a hefty (for their stats) 25 AP each, Kestrels are a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll. Like the Akhamials, they can do a little bit of whatever you need done. Also like the Akhamials, they aren’t as good at what they do as the more specialized units are. Stat-wise, Kestrels could be generously described as strictly average (save for their decent initiative, good aim, and good courage). Ability-wise, Kestrels are better described as sheer awesome.
Concentration / 1 starts the list, which can be placed in INI, ATT, or AIM. This bears some emphasis: they can increase their AIM with concentration, bringing it up to a total of AIM 5. Next, they bring Assault Fire to the table, with a ranged weapon that is STR 6, with a range of 15-20-25, which they can only fail on a 1. Thanks to 3.5, Bull’s Eye comes next, and can be nice if their target has already been activated and you are reasonably certain of winning DIS next round. Their ranged weapon is a helianthic pistol, and can be enhanced by spells that affect helianthic equipment. Finally they have the ability to feint, giving them a degree of control over whatever melees they involve themselves in.
--=- Elites -=--
Construct Warriors are the middle-ground Cynwall Construct, and a solid, reliable figure at that. For 35 AP, you get MOV 10, INI 3, 5-7 ATT/STR and 4-8 DEF/RES. As a construct, it is immune to both toxic and the effects of fear. Ambidextrous means that every time you successfully defend, you can gain an additional attack die, and with a DEF of 4, it is often worth it to put some dice in defense - especially if you got the charge off or won initiatve. Sequence tops it off with the possibility of gaining an extra combat die at the price of –1 ATT/DEF. The Construct Warrior is equipped with helianthic mechanisms, which can be enhanced by spells that affect helianthic equipment. Note: Cynwall constructs are immune to the banishment and supreme banishment spells.
For 39 points, Asadars have combat stats fairly similar to Construct Warriors. These elites are almost always worth taking on account of their combination of Concentration / 2 (ATT, STR, DEF), Feint, and Sequence. This combination is particularly effective against any army that does not have an easy way of getting extra combat dice, less effective against armies with Born Killer, and least effective against units that consistently use the War Fury ability, though still pretty darn good. They also benefit from Righteous, which renders them immune to fear and gives them +1 to the result of their ATT checks when they place all their dice in attack. The Asadar’s weapons and armor are both helianthic, and can be enhanced with spells that affect helianthic equipment.
The Khidarym starts with stats slightly better than the Asadar’s, exchanges Feint for Steadfast, and then adds a Helianthic Pistol to the mix (AIM 3, STR 6, range 15-20-25). Although their AIM 3 means that their pistols are the most inaccurate ranged weapon in the Cynwall army (tied with the Akhamial), they are still accurate enough that they will hit on anything but a roll of a 1 at short range. That combined with the option to Bull’s Eye or Assault Fire makes Khidaryms particularly deadly. Either ability is perfectly viable in most cases; thanks to Steadfast, Khidaryms do not take charge penalties, ever, so don’t be afraid to let them be charged if it will help your position overall. Their Concentration / 2 can be assigned to ATT, DEF, or STR. Like the Asadar, Khidaryms are Righteous and therefore immune to FEAR. All of the Khidarym’s weapons and armor are helianthic, and thus can benefit from spells that enhance helianthic equipment. Khidaryms benefit from a special capacity: no matter how many dice they place in attack, they can always perform sustained defense as long as they have at least one die in defense. The downside? At 45 AP, they are not cheap figures.
--=- Specialized Troops -=--
Varsyms, despite their lack of the ability in question, are effectively 29 point assassins. With INI 4, ATT 3, STR 8, Scout and Master Strike / 0, they are very, very good at putting the hurt on the likes of artillery, the war staff, and various support units. Although their resilience is a bit lacking with a rating of 5, their Concentration / 2 can be applied to RES (or COU, or ATT) to compensate. While they can inflict wounds on harder targets, they lack the resilience to last very long against elites. With their MOV of 12.5, Varsyms can be fielded in situations where other scouts are not as useful – against foes with consciousness, for example. Deploy the Varsyms just over 20 cm away from the fig in question, and you can still charge them in the first round. Varsyms benefit from a special capacity that allows them to move double their movement after disengaging, or their full movement as a part of a pursuit move.
Echahims - Although the Echahim lacks the ‘scout’ ability, their MOV of 20 combined with ‘Leap’ makes this lack more or less irrelevant. Add to that counter-attack, good combat stats, STR 7, RES 7, Disengagement / 7 (paired with an INI of 5, meaning that when unwounded they will disengage on anything except for a roll of a 1), and Concentration / 2 (STR, DEF, COU), and you have an excellent deep strike unit that can charge practically anything on the board from the safety of well behind the Cynwall front line. Echahims are ideal for capturing and holding battle objectives, for striking at your enemy’s support units, spell-casters, artillery, and ranged, and for general control of the battlefield. They are also serviceable as a counter to fliers on account of one of their special capacities. As large figures, they have line of sight over most other Cynwall figures, can inflict charge penalties on almost anything, and are difficult to inflict charge penalties upon in turn.
Be careful of sending them against beat-stick models – Echahims lack the RES to stand up against high STR hits for long, and do not do nearly so well against figs with high ATT values. Be also careful in where you position them when using them against ranged figs, as with their large size they are easier to hit. Echahims have two special capacities. The first is that they can engage (and charge) models that are flying at altitude level 1, and such models do not gain dive-bomb benefits when they perform dive-bomb attacks on the Echahim. The second is that any fig of medium or small size that is engaged in melee combat with the Echahim reduces the final result of its ATT tests against the Echahim by 1. This latter capacity is particularly useful when coupled with a successful charge, as it means that even unwounded opponents are at –2 to their ATT tests, almost guaranteeing that the Echahim will get off her counter-attacks.
--=- Heavies -=--
The Novas are currently the closest thing that Cynwall have to a beat-stick short of the Dragon. With 12.5 MOV, they are faster than any of the other constructs, have a decent INI (3), hit hard, have high armor, and are one of the only Cynwall units to possess FEAR. In addition to being Constructs and thus immune to fear and toxic, they benefit from Ambidextrous, Additional limb, and Sequence / 1. If they use all of these abilities, Novas benefit from three attack dice with an ATT 3, DEF 5, and will gain an additional attack die every time they make a successful defense check. Finally, their helianthic weapons and armor can be enhanced by spells that affect helianthic equipment, giving them the capacity to be boosted to truly fearsome levels of power. Note: Cynwall constructs are immune to the banishment and supreme banishment spells.
Dragons are at last a true Cynwall beat-stick and more. With a STR 13, RES 13, a movement rate of 15/20, good initiative (4), good aim (4), a fear of 9, enormous, Implacable / 1, Born killer, Flight, and a STR 10 range 20-30-40 heavy zone artillery breath weapon, the Dragon earns his high point cost. It comes with two special capacities: First, in addition to not counting in the quota of a Cynwall army’s artillery, you can use the dragon’s breath weapon while you are in hand to hand combat (and it is immune to its own breath weapon). Second, every Cynwall fighter (except for dragons) within 20 cm of the dragon gets +1 to both STR and RES. 175 AP is the grand total, and you can only field one of these per (even incomplete) five hundred AP, rendering him impractical for use in a 400 point Confrontation game.
--=- Casters -=--
Synchronimes are the Cynwall non-hero caster with decent combat abilities, good courage, Concentration / 1 (INI, ATT, DEF), and some very cool spells and special abilities. First, once per round he can choose to either lend his concentration dot out to any friendly Cynwall within 10 cm (which reduces his own Concentration to 0, and gives +1 to the friendly Cynwall’s concentration ability, to a max of 3), or he can choose to use his concentration point to give himself one additional gem of light (added to his reserve within capacity limits). Finally, like all Warrior-mages, the Synchronime has the ability to counter-attack.
Equanimous Warriors are 3 points more expensive than the Synchronimes sans spells at 35 AP each. Their stats are fairly equivalent to the Synchronime. They’re warrior-monks (0, 1, 1), so are able to counter-attack, and in 3.5, there’s no reason not to. With two different equanime models and an equanime hero, they have a number of unique spells, almost all of which are very useful.
The Equanimous Warrior benefits from a special capacity that allows them to give Sequence to any friendly Cynwall present even partially within his aura of faith, including himself, but excluding Constructs.
Equanimes have good discipline (5), and can enhance their discipline with Concentration to a 6, making them good backup commanders if your character should fall.
--=- Heroes -=--
Maelyn – Maelyn is the cheapest Cynwall hero at 44 points. She is an initiate of Solaris with POW 4, and comes with some very useful spells and a very useful artifact. Her combat ability is abysmal, and with a resilience of 6, her RES is about average for Cynwall heroes. She has Concentration / 1, and she can place it in INI and DEF (which are a 4 and a 4, respectively). She has the lowest DIS of any Cynwall hero at a rating of 4, but what she lacks in leadership ability, she makes up for in sheer awesome.
Her artifact, the Orb of Resonance, grants Regeneration / 5 to any construct within 15 cm of her. You may have more than one Orb of Resonance in an army, but they can only be given to Cynwall characters with POW on their reference card. All in all, a very solid, cheap caster.
Menaran is to heroes as Selsym are to the rest of the army: cheap and disposable. At 60 AP and with an artifact that does not bring him above the 80 AP minimum for GDR games, he is best played in games wherein the AP limit is less than 400, unless you really really want a Warstaff. He has good discipline (6), has the leadership / 10 ability, and possesses a helianthic weapon. His artifact is considered helianthic armor.
Galhyan is the best caster the Cynwall can field presently. He is an adept of light/water and Solaris/Chronomancy. He’s no slouch in combat either (though you should not put him into melee if you can avoid it, him being too valuable to waste), with combat stats comparable to Menaran’s, and good initiative (5). He also makes a good leader, having excellent courage (7), a discipline of 6, and Leadership / 15. He has Concentration / 2 (MOV, INI, DEF). His artifacts are useful, one of which extends the range of his spell casting (Solaris school only) by 10 cm, and the other of which lets him put his two points of concentration into practically any stat he wants.
Nelphaell is best described as a ‘finesse’ hero, and by ‘finesse’ I mean glass-jawed and more trouble than she’s worth. On the plus side, she has a helianthic crossbow with a great AIM score and STR 6. On the minus side, her range is somewhere in between a Kestrel’s and an Azure Hunter’s. She is an assassin, and her stats are about equal to an Eclipsante, including the resilience. She received some buffing in 3.5, and is more capable both at range and in combat thanks to the improvements to Sequence and Counterattack and the improved Assault Fire and Bull’s Eye she is entitled to as a character, but is still more often a 103 point one-shot wonder who dies far too easily.
Syd de Kaiber is yet another Cynwall glassjaw, though with his RES of 6 he is not as frail as Nelphaell. He has an excellent ATT, and can do some serious damage if he puts all his concentration points into STR (his special capacity then boosts the total by 3, giving him a total of 12 STR), but he just does not have the RES to back it up. If you fail a defense test, expect to take a minimum of a serious wound. He is an interesting figure to field against Acheron, as he possesses Bane/Acheron and gives Bane/Acheron to every friendly figure within 10 cm. He has a good DIS and possesses Leadership/15, but Sylann is a better choice for leader, and isn’t that much more expensive. His artifacts give him some interesting options, however, one of which makes him a POW 4 caster aligned to darkness, the other of which gives him regeneration / 5 and improves his ability to lead.
Soim is the third of the trihedron of Kaiber, all of whom probably work a great deal better in Rag’Narok than they do in C3. He is effectively a scaled up version of an equanimous warrior with better stats and more aspects, and is more durable than either Syd or Nelphaell. Of the three, he is the easiest to field and requires the least amount of ‘finesse’ to make worth his points. Despite his lack of leadership, he can put concentration into discipline, bringing his total up to an 8. He has good combat stats, and is capable of bringing some solid divine support to the table. Like equanimous warriors, he can give sequence to any friendly within his aura of faith, and his artifacts allow him to surpass his limitations as a warrior-monk.
Sylann, Khidarym Champion – Point for point, the best Cynwall warrior hero available. He is both a formidable fighter, able to slug it out with the best of them, and a formidable commander, possessing the highest discipline of any Cynwall hero (8), excellent courage (8), and Leadership / 15. Like all Khidaryms, he possesses helianthic weapons and armor, but the likelihood of being able to bring both Sylann and a caster capable of enhancing such to the table in a 400 point game is slim (you can, if you really try, squeeze Maelyn into a list with him). His AIM isn’t any better than your basic Khidarym’s, and needs to be fired at short range if you want to hit with any kind of reliability. Thanks to his immunity to charge penalties, this is not much of a problem. His Assault Fire is considerably more accurate than his standard shooting, failing only on a 1. His artifacts are interesting; one of them, particularly useful when combined with the Khidarym’s special capacity to perform a sustained defense even if they have more dice in attack than in defense, allows you to convert any unused defense dice back into attack dice. The other gives Sylann Target +2 and Insensitive / 5, and gives Target + 2 to every friendly within 15 cm of him, invaluable in the new shooter-heavy 3.5 version of Confrontation. All in all he is an excellent, excellent hero, though very pricey; he clocks in at 135 AP, and that’s before you give him artifacts.
Lens Mendkenn - Thanks to her "Leadership/15" ability, Lens Mendkenn is the ideal commander for an army based on the echahïms. But even without these emblematic troops, Mendkenn is still an impressive fighter, with a remarkable attack potential (ATT 8/STR 8), further enhanced by her magic swords (Sequence/4). Thus equipped she can make the most out of her mobility (MOV 20, Leap) and strike the enemy wherever and whenever she wants!
--=- Spells -=--
Desynchronization – Can either increase the targeted friendly Cynwall’s RES by two at the cost of reducing its INI by 1, to a maximum of +6 RES, -3 INI, or can increase INI by +1 per –2 RES, to a max of +3 INI, -6 RES.
Ellipse – Increases a Synchronime’s MOV by 2.5 per mana gem spent, to a maximum of 20 cm.
Helianthic Masterpiece – Helianthic Masterpiece can be cast once per round, and once cast, you can choose up to three models with the same type of Helianthic equipment. If the equipment in question is a ranged weapon, the targeted models can reroll their AIM checks. If the equipment in question is helianthic armour, the targeted models can reroll once each DEF check they make until the end of the round. If the equipment is a helianthic weapon, the targeted models can reroll once each ATT check they make until the end of the round. If it is helianthic mechanisms, they can reroll their INI checks. Previously, this spell was simply useful. In 3.5, it is sheer awesome. Cast it on Azure Hunters and watch as you score Bull’s Eye shots at long range. Cast it on Novas and watch them reroll their DEF checks with DEF 6 plus ambidextrous, and so on.
Solar Power – Here’s another Cynwall buff that verges on downright overpowered. Solar Power, which lasts until the end of the round (and can be cast on only one unit per round), flips the location and damage dice. The higher result is read as the location, and the lower as the damage. This gives you a 75% chance of inflicting a wound every time you hit, and a one in six chance that the location will be to the head (including the result of 6/6). It can be cast on any Cynwall, and before your troops engage in melee is worth casting on Azure Hunters, but afterwards, you want it on your heavy hitters.
Forge of the Heliasts – The second of the two Helianthic spells, Forge of the Heliasts can affect either Helianthic Armor or Helianthic Weapons (including ranged weapons). For two mana, you can add +1 to any one unit’s STR or RES (but not both with the same casting). For three mana, it becomes +3. For four mana, it becomes +5. This spell is castable twice per round.
Chain of Automatons – This spell can only affect Cynwall constructs with helianthic mechanisms. It costs 0 mana to cast it initially, and it has a frequency of 10, so there’s almost no reason to reinforce it when you do cast it, as failing the roll doesn’t harm you. Once cast, depending on what sort of mana you have and how much, you can spend additional mana to give your constructs special abilities. The abilities to choose from are Instinctive Firing (Akhamial only), Possessed, Fierce, and Regeneration / 5.
Blinding Flash – A nearly indispensable spell in 3.5, blinding flash, castable twice per round, allows you to place down a Confrontation card on the battle field representing a flash of light that blocks all line of sight to, from, within, and crossing the area within the area of the card. Want to prevent Galhyan from being turned into a pincushion? This is the spell to do it with.
--=- Miracles -=--
Painful Truth - Lets you reduce the target's RES by the fervour chosen for the spell, to a maximum of three. Unfortunately, the range is contact, and since you cannot cast after having charged (but must cast beforehand), its use is limited.
Intangible Truth – This miracle makes the caster ethereal until the end of the round. Very useful for adding a degree of survivability to the otherwise frail Equanimous Warriors.
Invisible Truth – Gives the caster +1 DEF and target +2. Useful in combination with the Equanimous Warrior’s capacity to counter-attack, and prevents him from being turned into a pincushion by ranged figs.
Prophetic Truth – Gives a bonus to the caster’s INI equal to the fervour spent, with a maximum of +2. This bonus stacks with any benefit provided by Concentration.
Illusive Truth – Gives everyone within the Equanime’s aura of faith Disengagement / 7.
--=- Sample Lists -=--
Galhyan - 95 AP
- Forge of the Heliasts
- Helianthic Masterpiece
- Blinding Flash
- Solar Power
- Chain of Automatons
Nova - 62 AP
2x Echahim - 74 AP
2x Selsym Veteran (lance) - 48 AP
3x Akhamial - 42 AP
3x Azure Hunter - 78 AP
This list is something of an eggs all in one basket list; if the Nova goes down to a lucky double-six, you are in trouble. Otherwise, you’re going to eat your enemy. For the first turn, stay back and let your Azures do their work buffed with Helianthic Masterpiece (otherwise save your mana), and roll up their 6s without fear of failure (Sharpshooter).
Use Echahims to take out enemy ranged and support, and once the enemy force is in range, cast ‘helianthic masterpiece’ on the Nova (targeting its Helianthic Armor), allowing it to reroll its DEF checks, then cast Forge of the Heliasts on it for +5 STR, and then give it Solar Power, and charge it into the enemy line. Remember to support the Nova, as it only has an INI of 3, and needs to win INI to be guaranteed victory. Don’t let it get overwhelmed. Use your Akhamials to tie up troublesome troops while the Nova and the Echahims do their work. The Nova, with its STR 14 with three dice (sequence) and DEF 5 plus ambidextrous, which gives you an additional attack die every time you successfully defend, AND you can reroll each defense check once, AND you read the higher of the two dice as the location and the lower as the damage, will tend to destroy whatever it comes in contact with.
Beware of scouts with this list, as they can really turn your game into a difficult one if you aren’t careful in your placement.
------------------
Sylann, Khidarym champion: 135 AP
- Celestial Wing: 18 AP
2x Khidarym - 90 AP
3x Akhamial - 42 AP
2x Azure Hunter - 52 AP
Echahim - 37 AP
400 AP, 9 models, 5 cards
With this list, you can afford to play the range game. Target +2 on everyone within 15 cm of Sylann means that you can take your time and fire volley after volley as your opponent advances, inflicting as many wounds as possible before your troops actually get into combat. DIS 8 with leadership also means that you're probably going to win tactical, which means that in that critical round when you can finally no longer continue to shoot without being engaged, you can assault-fire them first with either Khidaryms or Akhamials. The Echahim is icing on the cake, allowing you to take out your opponent's ranged and casters at will (especially if you win discipline). Beware enemy casters – especially those with access to the water element, as they can really ruin your day with LoS limiting spells.
Although sequence and counter-attack are much improved, don't take that as an excuse to just charge into battle - to succeed, this list requires that you thin the enemy ranks before they actually get into melee combat with you. There are four profiles included with the Cynwall card pack, each of which will be detailed here instead of in the main army post. Because images of the cards involved are not readily available online, I include here the stats and abilities of each profile:
First up, we have the Truth Warrior -
10*
3
4-8*
3-7
-
5*
4
Concentration* / 1, Ruthless
Cynwall Irregular
20 AP
At first glance, this profile might be mistaken for an Orc rather than an Elf, but as the quote on the card says, "Blood is of little importance. The Soul is all that matters." And these boys definitely have the souls of Orcs. Better in nearly every concievable way save only movement, Truth Warriors quite simply make Selsyms obsolete. Any time you have a choice between the two, go for this profile.
At 35 AP, the Varsym Killer is an upgraded Varsym profile, and a darn good one. Slightly more fragile, but much harder hitting, these boys and girls must be used carefully to attain their full effectiveness. For this unit, it is even more important than normal that you win INI, and be engaged with the target you actually want to be engaged with. STR 10 hits (STR 16 masterstrikes) are very impressive, but note the 5 RES. This is a unit that can *not* afford to be taking hits.
Varsym Killer -
12.5
4*
6-8*
4-5
-
6*
5
Helianthic weapon
Concentration / 2, Scout, Master Strike / 0, Vivacity
Cynwall Special
35 AP
Note the presence of a Helianthic weapon, not present in the other Varsym profile, which allows the Varsym Killer to be affected by spells that affect Helianthic equipment, giving you the potential to be throwing out STR 15 hits without even using master-strike, or giving you the ability to reroll each attack roll once, or both.
Cynwall Quasar - Here is a true heavy hitter for the Cynwall, filling in a major hole in the army and allowing them a workable counter to the likes of Tyrants, Predators of Blood, Big D Clones, and the like. And it's a doozy.
12.5
3
6-11
5-11
-
7 FEAR
-
Helianthic mechanisms, Helianthic armor, Helianthic weapon
Construct, Ambidextrous, Master Strike / 0, Additional Limb, Born Killer
Cynwall Elite
75 AP
Note the presence of Helianthic equipment, which allows you to boost the Quasar from the level of simply 'awesome' well into the land of 'absolutely ludicrous.' As a Construct, the Quasar is immune to FEAR and Toxic, and like all Cynwall constructs, is immune to the Banishment and Supreme Banishment spells.
Nalkyr Maloth, Initiate Dragon - Another big hitter for the Cynwall army, though this time it comes in the form of a 200 AP dragon caster character. Yes, you read that correctly. Nalkyr Maloth is downright amazing, but for 200 AP, he darn well better be.
15/20
4-10
5-12
3
9 FEAR
5
Dragon breath / FOR 10, range: 20-30-40
Enormous, Spirit of Light, Initiate of Light/Solaris, Recovery/3, Born Killer, Flight
Cynwall Initiate
Heavy artillery with area of effect
200 AP
Note that while he can be fielded in a 400 point game, he cannot be fielded in a 400 point game with the Light Dragon theme, as this would bring him above the 50% maximum for heroes. This is probably an intentional design choice.
It is probably best to forgoe direct damage magic spells with this caster, and instead use him for spell buffs. With his STR 10 AoE breath weapon, he is already well able to dish out the ranged support damage, and as a Cynwall Dragon, he can use his breath weapon while in hand to hand combat, and is immune to his own flames. Speaking of hand to hand combat, there is little reason to keep him out of it. His stats are not as amazing as the 175 point Cynwall Dragon, but they are still pretty darn amazing. Add a dive-bomb bonus on top of that, and he'll be in a position to dish out some serious hand to hand damage.
The Cynwall Ways
The Army of the Republic
For 0 AP, this way allows you to field up to 6 regulars or veterans per card provided at least 50% of your force is made up of regulars and/or or veterans. Two solos are selectable here. The first is called Republican Pool. It costs 3 AP, and allows you to choose between Artifact / 1, Loyal / 1, and Fine Blade (you must choose one at the beginning of the game). The other solo is called Brother-in-arms, costs 1 AP, and gives Survival Instinct.
The Light Dragon
For 1 AP per fig, and provided that at least 30% of your strategic value is made up of Dragons (Cynwall Dragons or Wyrms), not only do the dragons acquire scout, but a number of Cynwall units equal to the combined Force of your dragons also gain the ability. There are two solos available, one of which buffs the Dragon aura ability (allowing it to stack up to three times), the other of which gives Consciousness. This theme is not entirely practical for a 400 point game, but can be made to work, provided you don't mind having a frighteningly low model count. This theme can really shine in 600 AP+ games, but Ragnarok is where it really comes into its own.
If you insist on using this Way in Confrontation, make good use of your Scouts. Be creative. Try to give scout to models that would horrify you to face as scouts. A scouting dragon teamed up with a scouting Echahim and Khidarym can make for an amazing strike force, and a scouting Nelphaell is just wrong on many different levels.
The Equanime Monestaries
Point for point, this is, in my opinion, the best of the Cynwall Ways. For the cost of two AP per fig, provided you have at least one Cynwall Warrior-monk per slice of 200 AP (even incomplete) that you field, all friendly fighters gain Sequence/1 (+1 to their Sequence value if they already have the ability) and +1 INI. Now, that in itself is amazingly good, but what really brings this theme into the realm of sheer awesome is the solos. One of them is just OK. For 2 AP, you can give a fighter Loyal/1. The other, Martial Teacher, is downright jaw-droppingly amazing. For 4 AP, you can give an Equanime a solo that gives Counter-attack to every friendly fighter (apart from Constructs) inside his aura of faith. Add some divine spells on top of that, and this theme becomes pure win.
With this theme, it is helpful to go for models with high attack and defense scores. Most Cynwall have that, naturally, but some are higher than others. If you are paying for the Martial Teacher solo (and it is always, *always* worth it), it is helpful to prioritize units that can put Concentration into Defense to help you get those Counter-Attacks.
The Elder's Legacy
Another good, solid theme. This Way costs 1 AP per nonconstruct fig you include in the army, and at least 50% of your force must be made up of Constructs. In return for paying this cost with every nonconstruct, every Construct becomes 3 AP cheaper. For 2 AP, you can give Resolution/2 to any construct. For 4 AP, you can give Recovery/3 to any Cynwall magician who masters Solaris magic. Finally, for 3 AP, you can give any Akhamial +2.5 MOV and Scout. This last point is worth underlining. +2.5 MOV and Scout for 3 AP. And for including them in the force, they cost 3 AP less. There's no reason *not* to do this.
Obviously, with this theme, it is best to focus on a construct army supported by spellcasters. Someone had to state the obvious, right? Consider it stated. Still, don't be afraid to mix in some non-construct fighters (so long as you meet the 50% construct minimum). Scouting Akhamials can cause some serious nightmares for an enemy force, but don't get carried away - Akhamials, though amazing units, are very easily overwhelmed if you send them out unsupported against any but the most vulnerable targets. Unless your intent is a suicide run, the usual rules for scouts apply.
I like to use my upgraded Akhamials to get off free charges to tie up enemy heavies for a round while the rest of my force pounces on their support. The 3.5 changes have been particularly helpful in this regard, giving them an assault fire shot on top of their already fear-immune charge. Sacrificing 14 AP to tie up and possibly wound a Predator of Blood, or a Tyrant, a D-Clone, or the like? I'll take that trade.
The Way of the Trihedron
The Way of the Trihedron requires that you form at least one group of three Cynwall units to be a trihedron. You can actually include as many trihedrons as you please, though. It costs 1 AP per fig to bind it to this theme. In return, each trihedron is activated on its own card (even if each fig in the trihedron is different), and every trihedron member gains Survival Instinct if they are within 10cm of another member of the trihedron. In Trihedrons that contain a Faithful and at least one fig which (not the Faithful) has a piece of Helianthic equipment, then each survival instinct roll each member of the trihedron makes can be rerolled once.
The solos for this Way are interesting. The first, geared towards Dogs of War, (1 AP) allows you to exchange renown for resource points at the end of every scenario at a 1 to 1 ratio. The second can be given to any character who is part of a trihedron, and gives that character leadership/10 (or +10 cm to their leadership range) at a cost equal to either their COU or their DIS, whichever is higher. The last solo gives Scout for 3 AP to any fig with a RES less than or equal to 10.
The Way of the Trihedron is one that I have been doing much experimenting with as of late, and I find that I like it almost as much as I like the Equanime Monestaries. The theme drastically changes the way you design your army: you need each Trihedron to be able to function on its own as well as within the larger context of your army, and once this is accomplished, it becomes something like playing three (or more, or less) seperate Dogs of War squads simultaneously and in support of each other.
Try to put together into the same trihedron units that have synergies with each other. A trihedron that consists of an Equanime, a Khidarym, and a Kestrel, for example (Kestrels and Khidaryms work well together, Sequence + Feint is always a winner, and while he's at it, the Equanime can toss Lethal Vision onto the Khidarym). Another trihedron that has brought me much success is an all scouting Trihedron that consists of Nelphaell, an Azure Hunter, and an Asadar bodyguard. Maelyn (with helianthic masterpiece and solar power) is best put into a trihedron that can make use of her helianthic buffs, and so on.
With this theme, it is probably best to substitute Echahims for Varsyms and Varsym Killers: the Echahim's mobility is not going to be as useful when it is compelled to remain within 10 cm of its fellows lest it break the trihedron.
Blade of Truth
Here's the one everyone likes to talk about, and it's every bit as good as people say. For 1 AP per fig, you gain the potential to gain +1 concentration for every Cynwall with the ability in your army. The catch? Before the match begins, you must offer your opponent the chance to surrender. So long as you remember to do so, everyone with the ability gains +1 concentration.
As if that were not enough, the solos bring this Way well into the realm of awesome. The first, Ire (2 AP), gives Implacable / 1 to whoever you give it to, which is cool in Confrontation, but downright amazing in Rag'narok. This is particularly evil to give to Quasars. They will usually kill their target, and having an additional pursuit move can be exactly what you need in a combat situation. The second, Determination, is the one most people talk about. For 2 AP, you can put your Concentration into any stat except for POW or Aspects. In case you weren't paying attention, this is the solo that lets you have Azure Hunters with an AIM of 6.
Finally, this Way changes the Cynwall rules of alliance. Instead of the normal '30%' rules, a Blade of Truth army can take up to 33% of its army as Griffins, and 33% of its army as Lions. The remaining 33% must be made up of Cynwall bound to the Blade of Truth. Blade of Truth armies cannot include other allies, save for Elementals or Immortals.
People talk a lot about Azure Hunters who can hit on a roll of a 1 at medium range (up to 40 cm away), but for my money, Khidaryms with Concentration / 3 is where it's at. With STR 11, they are downright impressive as heavy hitters; with DEF 8, there is little they cannot block, and you can succesfully perform a sustained defense against all but the most skillful enemy fighters.
Be strategic about who you give Determination to. Azure Hunters is a good bet, but not the only good bet. Varsym Killers with a pumpable RES (and 3 points they can put into it) can go a long way towards making the unit more survivable, and the same goes for Nelphaell. Nelphaell with RES 5? Not so impressive. Nelphaell with RES 8? Now that's more like it. On the other hand, a Nelphaell with an AIM of 8 is going to send shivers of fear up most people's spines. Conversely, giving Determination to Sylann gives you a potential DIS as high as 11, and that's *without* a War-Staff! Be creative. You are limited only by the current pool of Cynwall units in release.
This one is from forum member Scyld:
CYNWALL
The Republic of Lanever
--=- Army Overview -=--
Strengths:
- Good discipline – with typical character DIS ratings hovering around 6, with our without leadership, the Cynwall stand a reasonable chance of going first unless they are facing an extreme high DIS army such as Griffins or Dwarves.
- Good magic – The Republic of Lanever really shines when it comes to spell buffs.
- Good initiative – Most Cynwall units either have an INI of 4, or can boost their INI to 4 with Concentration.
- Above average speed (12.5) – While not exceptional, their speed of 12.5 means that they have a distinct advantage over most of the other armies in the game in this regard – particularly against Dwarven armies and against Acheron.
- Highly synergistic – Most units have useful special abilities, and when used in tandem, become much more powerful than they would be otherwise.
- High numbers of shooters – Cynwall have five separate shooter troops that run the range of troop types, from basic all purpose cannon fodder to elite melee to elite ranged.
- High resistance to FEAR – Typically, FEAR will be a non-issue for this army, lacking some really bad rolls. Much of the army is actually outright immune to FEAR.
- Versatile – With an extremely wide range of skills and abilities, about the only thing the Cynwall *can’t* do is simply bull rush their way through an enemy force.
Weaknesses:
- Highly synergistic – The flip side of great synergy is that you actually have to attain this synergy, or your army isn’t anywhere near as effective as it otherwise would be. Cynwall don’t play like most armies; they take an annoyingly long time to figure out. When you are first starting with this army, be prepared to lose. A lot.
- Strictly average combat stats – The strength of the Cynwall fighter tends to be in its abilities, and not in its STR or RES. Short of the Dragon, the closest thing the Cynwall have to a beat-stick is the Nova with a STR of 9 and a RES of 10 for 62 AP.
- Expensive units – These elves tend to be expensive. Their basic troops start at 17 AP, and it only goes up from there. Akhamials are cheaper, but they pay for it in stat hits.
- Glass-jawed characters (some exceptions apply) – Only one Lanever hero has a RES higher than 7. Most of their heroes, while very skillful, cannot take a hit.
--=- Basic Troops -=--
Selsym – Selsym are nothing to shout about, but aren’t terrible, either. With average stats, Concentration / 1 (INI, ATT) and priced at 17 AP, they can fill the role of cannon fodder about as well as anything in the Cynwall army is able to. Unless you are in dire need of the extra models, it is usually worth it to upgrade to the Veteran profile.
Selsym Veterans – It’s almost always worth it to choose the lance (+1 INI, which gives you an initiative of 5 if you also invest your Concentration point into it) over the saber (+1 ATT) here, but either way, the Selsym Veteran is a good, solid unit. They start with nearly the same stats as your basic Selsym (+1 DIS, +1 DEF), and then add Concentration / 1 (INI, ATT, STR), Bravery, and Feint at the cost of an additional 7 AP. If they have any real drawback, it is their average combat statistics. Unless you are facing goblins, you are not going to win any slugfests with the Veterans; they are best used in support of the more powerful units.
--=- Ranged Support -=--
Azure Hunters – These are your basic Cynwall ranged unit. And when I say ‘basic,’ I mean ‘elite.’ With an aim of four plus sharpshooter, they are free to shoot and move at short range without the possibility of missing. Even at medium range, they will hit their target at least 50% of the time even if they move. As an added bonus, their helianthic crossbows (STR 6, 20-40-60) can be enhanced with spells that target helianthic equipment. Assault firing with Azures is not recommended, but sharp shooter combined with Bull’s Eye can be a fearsome thing, allowing you to roll up your sixes for additional damage without fear of failure. These are a prime target for buffing with Helianthic Masterpiece, which will allow them to reroll their shots if either, A: they miss, or B: you don’t roll as high as you wanted.
It may be tempting to remain still even when the enemy has closed to short range in order to get off one more bull’s eye shot. Don’t. Unless you are absolutely sure it will kill the enemy fig, you will be better served in shooting and then moving back out of charge range.
--=- Generalists -=--
Akhamials – As the cheapest of the Cynwall constructs, the Akhamial is an interesting unit. They are slightly slower than the rest of the Cynwall army, and with an aim of three, a modest ranged weapon (STR 4, 10-15-20), below average combat stats, Construct, Small Size, and Devotion / 2, they can do a little bit of everything, but not very well. Still, they are often worth having, especially if you are bringing magicians along for the ride. Akhamials also come equipped with helianthic mechanisms, which can be enhanced by spells that target helianthic equipment. Like all shooters, Akhamials have the bull’s eye and assault fire abilities. In their case, Assault Fire is the more useful, particularly if you win discipline against a fear causing army. As Constructs, Akhamials are immune to both FEAR and toxic, and so can be perfect for tying up expensive, high fear units (or highly toxic figs). Properly utilized, these little mechanical mana-bugs can pull some surprising tricks, and at 14 points each, you can afford to bring along a goodly number of them; unless you bring a caster along, though, you are limited to a maximum of three in an army. Note: Cynwall constructs are immune to both ‘banishment’ and ‘supreme banishment.’
Costing a hefty (for their stats) 25 AP each, Kestrels are a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll. Like the Akhamials, they can do a little bit of whatever you need done. Also like the Akhamials, they aren’t as good at what they do as the more specialized units are. Stat-wise, Kestrels could be generously described as strictly average (save for their decent initiative, good aim, and good courage). Ability-wise, Kestrels are better described as sheer awesome.
Concentration / 1 starts the list, which can be placed in INI, ATT, or AIM. This bears some emphasis: they can increase their AIM with concentration, bringing it up to a total of AIM 5. Next, they bring Assault Fire to the table, with a ranged weapon that is STR 6, with a range of 15-20-25, which they can only fail on a 1. Thanks to 3.5, Bull’s Eye comes next, and can be nice if their target has already been activated and you are reasonably certain of winning DIS next round. Their ranged weapon is a helianthic pistol, and can be enhanced by spells that affect helianthic equipment. Finally they have the ability to feint, giving them a degree of control over whatever melees they involve themselves in.
--=- Elites -=--
Construct Warriors are the middle-ground Cynwall Construct, and a solid, reliable figure at that. For 35 AP, you get MOV 10, INI 3, 5-7 ATT/STR and 4-8 DEF/RES. As a construct, it is immune to both toxic and the effects of fear. Ambidextrous means that every time you successfully defend, you can gain an additional attack die, and with a DEF of 4, it is often worth it to put some dice in defense - especially if you got the charge off or won initiatve. Sequence tops it off with the possibility of gaining an extra combat die at the price of –1 ATT/DEF. The Construct Warrior is equipped with helianthic mechanisms, which can be enhanced by spells that affect helianthic equipment. Note: Cynwall constructs are immune to the banishment and supreme banishment spells.
For 39 points, Asadars have combat stats fairly similar to Construct Warriors. These elites are almost always worth taking on account of their combination of Concentration / 2 (ATT, STR, DEF), Feint, and Sequence. This combination is particularly effective against any army that does not have an easy way of getting extra combat dice, less effective against armies with Born Killer, and least effective against units that consistently use the War Fury ability, though still pretty darn good. They also benefit from Righteous, which renders them immune to fear and gives them +1 to the result of their ATT checks when they place all their dice in attack. The Asadar’s weapons and armor are both helianthic, and can be enhanced with spells that affect helianthic equipment.
The Khidarym starts with stats slightly better than the Asadar’s, exchanges Feint for Steadfast, and then adds a Helianthic Pistol to the mix (AIM 3, STR 6, range 15-20-25). Although their AIM 3 means that their pistols are the most inaccurate ranged weapon in the Cynwall army (tied with the Akhamial), they are still accurate enough that they will hit on anything but a roll of a 1 at short range. That combined with the option to Bull’s Eye or Assault Fire makes Khidaryms particularly deadly. Either ability is perfectly viable in most cases; thanks to Steadfast, Khidaryms do not take charge penalties, ever, so don’t be afraid to let them be charged if it will help your position overall. Their Concentration / 2 can be assigned to ATT, DEF, or STR. Like the Asadar, Khidaryms are Righteous and therefore immune to FEAR. All of the Khidarym’s weapons and armor are helianthic, and thus can benefit from spells that enhance helianthic equipment. Khidaryms benefit from a special capacity: no matter how many dice they place in attack, they can always perform sustained defense as long as they have at least one die in defense. The downside? At 45 AP, they are not cheap figures.
--=- Specialized Troops -=--
Varsyms, despite their lack of the ability in question, are effectively 29 point assassins. With INI 4, ATT 3, STR 8, Scout and Master Strike / 0, they are very, very good at putting the hurt on the likes of artillery, the war staff, and various support units. Although their resilience is a bit lacking with a rating of 5, their Concentration / 2 can be applied to RES (or COU, or ATT) to compensate. While they can inflict wounds on harder targets, they lack the resilience to last very long against elites. With their MOV of 12.5, Varsyms can be fielded in situations where other scouts are not as useful – against foes with consciousness, for example. Deploy the Varsyms just over 20 cm away from the fig in question, and you can still charge them in the first round. Varsyms benefit from a special capacity that allows them to move double their movement after disengaging, or their full movement as a part of a pursuit move.
Echahims - Although the Echahim lacks the ‘scout’ ability, their MOV of 20 combined with ‘Leap’ makes this lack more or less irrelevant. Add to that counter-attack, good combat stats, STR 7, RES 7, Disengagement / 7 (paired with an INI of 5, meaning that when unwounded they will disengage on anything except for a roll of a 1), and Concentration / 2 (STR, DEF, COU), and you have an excellent deep strike unit that can charge practically anything on the board from the safety of well behind the Cynwall front line. Echahims are ideal for capturing and holding battle objectives, for striking at your enemy’s support units, spell-casters, artillery, and ranged, and for general control of the battlefield. They are also serviceable as a counter to fliers on account of one of their special capacities. As large figures, they have line of sight over most other Cynwall figures, can inflict charge penalties on almost anything, and are difficult to inflict charge penalties upon in turn.
Be careful of sending them against beat-stick models – Echahims lack the RES to stand up against high STR hits for long, and do not do nearly so well against figs with high ATT values. Be also careful in where you position them when using them against ranged figs, as with their large size they are easier to hit. Echahims have two special capacities. The first is that they can engage (and charge) models that are flying at altitude level 1, and such models do not gain dive-bomb benefits when they perform dive-bomb attacks on the Echahim. The second is that any fig of medium or small size that is engaged in melee combat with the Echahim reduces the final result of its ATT tests against the Echahim by 1. This latter capacity is particularly useful when coupled with a successful charge, as it means that even unwounded opponents are at –2 to their ATT tests, almost guaranteeing that the Echahim will get off her counter-attacks.
--=- Heavies -=--
The Novas are currently the closest thing that Cynwall have to a beat-stick short of the Dragon. With 12.5 MOV, they are faster than any of the other constructs, have a decent INI (3), hit hard, have high armor, and are one of the only Cynwall units to possess FEAR. In addition to being Constructs and thus immune to fear and toxic, they benefit from Ambidextrous, Additional limb, and Sequence / 1. If they use all of these abilities, Novas benefit from three attack dice with an ATT 3, DEF 5, and will gain an additional attack die every time they make a successful defense check. Finally, their helianthic weapons and armor can be enhanced by spells that affect helianthic equipment, giving them the capacity to be boosted to truly fearsome levels of power. Note: Cynwall constructs are immune to the banishment and supreme banishment spells.
Dragons are at last a true Cynwall beat-stick and more. With a STR 13, RES 13, a movement rate of 15/20, good initiative (4), good aim (4), a fear of 9, enormous, Implacable / 1, Born killer, Flight, and a STR 10 range 20-30-40 heavy zone artillery breath weapon, the Dragon earns his high point cost. It comes with two special capacities: First, in addition to not counting in the quota of a Cynwall army’s artillery, you can use the dragon’s breath weapon while you are in hand to hand combat (and it is immune to its own breath weapon). Second, every Cynwall fighter (except for dragons) within 20 cm of the dragon gets +1 to both STR and RES. 175 AP is the grand total, and you can only field one of these per (even incomplete) five hundred AP, rendering him impractical for use in a 400 point Confrontation game.
--=- Casters -=--
Synchronimes are the Cynwall non-hero caster with decent combat abilities, good courage, Concentration / 1 (INI, ATT, DEF), and some very cool spells and special abilities. First, once per round he can choose to either lend his concentration dot out to any friendly Cynwall within 10 cm (which reduces his own Concentration to 0, and gives +1 to the friendly Cynwall’s concentration ability, to a max of 3), or he can choose to use his concentration point to give himself one additional gem of light (added to his reserve within capacity limits). Finally, like all Warrior-mages, the Synchronime has the ability to counter-attack.
Equanimous Warriors are 3 points more expensive than the Synchronimes sans spells at 35 AP each. Their stats are fairly equivalent to the Synchronime. They’re warrior-monks (0, 1, 1), so are able to counter-attack, and in 3.5, there’s no reason not to. With two different equanime models and an equanime hero, they have a number of unique spells, almost all of which are very useful.
The Equanimous Warrior benefits from a special capacity that allows them to give Sequence to any friendly Cynwall present even partially within his aura of faith, including himself, but excluding Constructs.
Equanimes have good discipline (5), and can enhance their discipline with Concentration to a 6, making them good backup commanders if your character should fall.
--=- Heroes -=--
Maelyn – Maelyn is the cheapest Cynwall hero at 44 points. She is an initiate of Solaris with POW 4, and comes with some very useful spells and a very useful artifact. Her combat ability is abysmal, and with a resilience of 6, her RES is about average for Cynwall heroes. She has Concentration / 1, and she can place it in INI and DEF (which are a 4 and a 4, respectively). She has the lowest DIS of any Cynwall hero at a rating of 4, but what she lacks in leadership ability, she makes up for in sheer awesome.
Her artifact, the Orb of Resonance, grants Regeneration / 5 to any construct within 15 cm of her. You may have more than one Orb of Resonance in an army, but they can only be given to Cynwall characters with POW on their reference card. All in all, a very solid, cheap caster.
Menaran is to heroes as Selsym are to the rest of the army: cheap and disposable. At 60 AP and with an artifact that does not bring him above the 80 AP minimum for GDR games, he is best played in games wherein the AP limit is less than 400, unless you really really want a Warstaff. He has good discipline (6), has the leadership / 10 ability, and possesses a helianthic weapon. His artifact is considered helianthic armor.
Galhyan is the best caster the Cynwall can field presently. He is an adept of light/water and Solaris/Chronomancy. He’s no slouch in combat either (though you should not put him into melee if you can avoid it, him being too valuable to waste), with combat stats comparable to Menaran’s, and good initiative (5). He also makes a good leader, having excellent courage (7), a discipline of 6, and Leadership / 15. He has Concentration / 2 (MOV, INI, DEF). His artifacts are useful, one of which extends the range of his spell casting (Solaris school only) by 10 cm, and the other of which lets him put his two points of concentration into practically any stat he wants.
Nelphaell is best described as a ‘finesse’ hero, and by ‘finesse’ I mean glass-jawed and more trouble than she’s worth. On the plus side, she has a helianthic crossbow with a great AIM score and STR 6. On the minus side, her range is somewhere in between a Kestrel’s and an Azure Hunter’s. She is an assassin, and her stats are about equal to an Eclipsante, including the resilience. She received some buffing in 3.5, and is more capable both at range and in combat thanks to the improvements to Sequence and Counterattack and the improved Assault Fire and Bull’s Eye she is entitled to as a character, but is still more often a 103 point one-shot wonder who dies far too easily.
Syd de Kaiber is yet another Cynwall glassjaw, though with his RES of 6 he is not as frail as Nelphaell. He has an excellent ATT, and can do some serious damage if he puts all his concentration points into STR (his special capacity then boosts the total by 3, giving him a total of 12 STR), but he just does not have the RES to back it up. If you fail a defense test, expect to take a minimum of a serious wound. He is an interesting figure to field against Acheron, as he possesses Bane/Acheron and gives Bane/Acheron to every friendly figure within 10 cm. He has a good DIS and possesses Leadership/15, but Sylann is a better choice for leader, and isn’t that much more expensive. His artifacts give him some interesting options, however, one of which makes him a POW 4 caster aligned to darkness, the other of which gives him regeneration / 5 and improves his ability to lead.
Soim is the third of the trihedron of Kaiber, all of whom probably work a great deal better in Rag’Narok than they do in C3. He is effectively a scaled up version of an equanimous warrior with better stats and more aspects, and is more durable than either Syd or Nelphaell. Of the three, he is the easiest to field and requires the least amount of ‘finesse’ to make worth his points. Despite his lack of leadership, he can put concentration into discipline, bringing his total up to an 8. He has good combat stats, and is capable of bringing some solid divine support to the table. Like equanimous warriors, he can give sequence to any friendly within his aura of faith, and his artifacts allow him to surpass his limitations as a warrior-monk.
Sylann, Khidarym Champion – Point for point, the best Cynwall warrior hero available. He is both a formidable fighter, able to slug it out with the best of them, and a formidable commander, possessing the highest discipline of any Cynwall hero (8), excellent courage (8), and Leadership / 15. Like all Khidaryms, he possesses helianthic weapons and armor, but the likelihood of being able to bring both Sylann and a caster capable of enhancing such to the table in a 400 point game is slim (you can, if you really try, squeeze Maelyn into a list with him). His AIM isn’t any better than your basic Khidarym’s, and needs to be fired at short range if you want to hit with any kind of reliability. Thanks to his immunity to charge penalties, this is not much of a problem. His Assault Fire is considerably more accurate than his standard shooting, failing only on a 1. His artifacts are interesting; one of them, particularly useful when combined with the Khidarym’s special capacity to perform a sustained defense even if they have more dice in attack than in defense, allows you to convert any unused defense dice back into attack dice. The other gives Sylann Target +2 and Insensitive / 5, and gives Target + 2 to every friendly within 15 cm of him, invaluable in the new shooter-heavy 3.5 version of Confrontation. All in all he is an excellent, excellent hero, though very pricey; he clocks in at 135 AP, and that’s before you give him artifacts.
Lens Mendkenn - Thanks to her "Leadership/15" ability, Lens Mendkenn is the ideal commander for an army based on the echahïms. But even without these emblematic troops, Mendkenn is still an impressive fighter, with a remarkable attack potential (ATT 8/STR 8), further enhanced by her magic swords (Sequence/4). Thus equipped she can make the most out of her mobility (MOV 20, Leap) and strike the enemy wherever and whenever she wants!
--=- Spells -=--
Desynchronization – Can either increase the targeted friendly Cynwall’s RES by two at the cost of reducing its INI by 1, to a maximum of +6 RES, -3 INI, or can increase INI by +1 per –2 RES, to a max of +3 INI, -6 RES.
Ellipse – Increases a Synchronime’s MOV by 2.5 per mana gem spent, to a maximum of 20 cm.
Helianthic Masterpiece – Helianthic Masterpiece can be cast once per round, and once cast, you can choose up to three models with the same type of Helianthic equipment. If the equipment in question is a ranged weapon, the targeted models can reroll their AIM checks. If the equipment in question is helianthic armour, the targeted models can reroll once each DEF check they make until the end of the round. If the equipment is a helianthic weapon, the targeted models can reroll once each ATT check they make until the end of the round. If it is helianthic mechanisms, they can reroll their INI checks. Previously, this spell was simply useful. In 3.5, it is sheer awesome. Cast it on Azure Hunters and watch as you score Bull’s Eye shots at long range. Cast it on Novas and watch them reroll their DEF checks with DEF 6 plus ambidextrous, and so on.
Solar Power – Here’s another Cynwall buff that verges on downright overpowered. Solar Power, which lasts until the end of the round (and can be cast on only one unit per round), flips the location and damage dice. The higher result is read as the location, and the lower as the damage. This gives you a 75% chance of inflicting a wound every time you hit, and a one in six chance that the location will be to the head (including the result of 6/6). It can be cast on any Cynwall, and before your troops engage in melee is worth casting on Azure Hunters, but afterwards, you want it on your heavy hitters.
Forge of the Heliasts – The second of the two Helianthic spells, Forge of the Heliasts can affect either Helianthic Armor or Helianthic Weapons (including ranged weapons). For two mana, you can add +1 to any one unit’s STR or RES (but not both with the same casting). For three mana, it becomes +3. For four mana, it becomes +5. This spell is castable twice per round.
Chain of Automatons – This spell can only affect Cynwall constructs with helianthic mechanisms. It costs 0 mana to cast it initially, and it has a frequency of 10, so there’s almost no reason to reinforce it when you do cast it, as failing the roll doesn’t harm you. Once cast, depending on what sort of mana you have and how much, you can spend additional mana to give your constructs special abilities. The abilities to choose from are Instinctive Firing (Akhamial only), Possessed, Fierce, and Regeneration / 5.
Blinding Flash – A nearly indispensable spell in 3.5, blinding flash, castable twice per round, allows you to place down a Confrontation card on the battle field representing a flash of light that blocks all line of sight to, from, within, and crossing the area within the area of the card. Want to prevent Galhyan from being turned into a pincushion? This is the spell to do it with.
--=- Miracles -=--
Painful Truth - Lets you reduce the target's RES by the fervour chosen for the spell, to a maximum of three. Unfortunately, the range is contact, and since you cannot cast after having charged (but must cast beforehand), its use is limited.
Intangible Truth – This miracle makes the caster ethereal until the end of the round. Very useful for adding a degree of survivability to the otherwise frail Equanimous Warriors.
Invisible Truth – Gives the caster +1 DEF and target +2. Useful in combination with the Equanimous Warrior’s capacity to counter-attack, and prevents him from being turned into a pincushion by ranged figs.
Prophetic Truth – Gives a bonus to the caster’s INI equal to the fervour spent, with a maximum of +2. This bonus stacks with any benefit provided by Concentration.
Illusive Truth – Gives everyone within the Equanime’s aura of faith Disengagement / 7.
--=- Sample Lists -=--
Galhyan - 95 AP
- Forge of the Heliasts
- Helianthic Masterpiece
- Blinding Flash
- Solar Power
- Chain of Automatons
Nova - 62 AP
2x Echahim - 74 AP
2x Selsym Veteran (lance) - 48 AP
3x Akhamial - 42 AP
3x Azure Hunter - 78 AP
This list is something of an eggs all in one basket list; if the Nova goes down to a lucky double-six, you are in trouble. Otherwise, you’re going to eat your enemy. For the first turn, stay back and let your Azures do their work buffed with Helianthic Masterpiece (otherwise save your mana), and roll up their 6s without fear of failure (Sharpshooter).
Use Echahims to take out enemy ranged and support, and once the enemy force is in range, cast ‘helianthic masterpiece’ on the Nova (targeting its Helianthic Armor), allowing it to reroll its DEF checks, then cast Forge of the Heliasts on it for +5 STR, and then give it Solar Power, and charge it into the enemy line. Remember to support the Nova, as it only has an INI of 3, and needs to win INI to be guaranteed victory. Don’t let it get overwhelmed. Use your Akhamials to tie up troublesome troops while the Nova and the Echahims do their work. The Nova, with its STR 14 with three dice (sequence) and DEF 5 plus ambidextrous, which gives you an additional attack die every time you successfully defend, AND you can reroll each defense check once, AND you read the higher of the two dice as the location and the lower as the damage, will tend to destroy whatever it comes in contact with.
Beware of scouts with this list, as they can really turn your game into a difficult one if you aren’t careful in your placement.
------------------
Sylann, Khidarym champion: 135 AP
- Celestial Wing: 18 AP
2x Khidarym - 90 AP
3x Akhamial - 42 AP
2x Azure Hunter - 52 AP
Echahim - 37 AP
400 AP, 9 models, 5 cards
With this list, you can afford to play the range game. Target +2 on everyone within 15 cm of Sylann means that you can take your time and fire volley after volley as your opponent advances, inflicting as many wounds as possible before your troops actually get into combat. DIS 8 with leadership also means that you're probably going to win tactical, which means that in that critical round when you can finally no longer continue to shoot without being engaged, you can assault-fire them first with either Khidaryms or Akhamials. The Echahim is icing on the cake, allowing you to take out your opponent's ranged and casters at will (especially if you win discipline). Beware enemy casters – especially those with access to the water element, as they can really ruin your day with LoS limiting spells.
Although sequence and counter-attack are much improved, don't take that as an excuse to just charge into battle - to succeed, this list requires that you thin the enemy ranks before they actually get into melee combat with you. There are four profiles included with the Cynwall card pack, each of which will be detailed here instead of in the main army post. Because images of the cards involved are not readily available online, I include here the stats and abilities of each profile:
First up, we have the Truth Warrior -
10*
3
4-8*
3-7
-
5*
4
Concentration* / 1, Ruthless
Cynwall Irregular
20 AP
At first glance, this profile might be mistaken for an Orc rather than an Elf, but as the quote on the card says, "Blood is of little importance. The Soul is all that matters." And these boys definitely have the souls of Orcs. Better in nearly every concievable way save only movement, Truth Warriors quite simply make Selsyms obsolete. Any time you have a choice between the two, go for this profile.
At 35 AP, the Varsym Killer is an upgraded Varsym profile, and a darn good one. Slightly more fragile, but much harder hitting, these boys and girls must be used carefully to attain their full effectiveness. For this unit, it is even more important than normal that you win INI, and be engaged with the target you actually want to be engaged with. STR 10 hits (STR 16 masterstrikes) are very impressive, but note the 5 RES. This is a unit that can *not* afford to be taking hits.
Varsym Killer -
12.5
4*
6-8*
4-5
-
6*
5
Helianthic weapon
Concentration / 2, Scout, Master Strike / 0, Vivacity
Cynwall Special
35 AP
Note the presence of a Helianthic weapon, not present in the other Varsym profile, which allows the Varsym Killer to be affected by spells that affect Helianthic equipment, giving you the potential to be throwing out STR 15 hits without even using master-strike, or giving you the ability to reroll each attack roll once, or both.
Cynwall Quasar - Here is a true heavy hitter for the Cynwall, filling in a major hole in the army and allowing them a workable counter to the likes of Tyrants, Predators of Blood, Big D Clones, and the like. And it's a doozy.
12.5
3
6-11
5-11
-
7 FEAR
-
Helianthic mechanisms, Helianthic armor, Helianthic weapon
Construct, Ambidextrous, Master Strike / 0, Additional Limb, Born Killer
Cynwall Elite
75 AP
Note the presence of Helianthic equipment, which allows you to boost the Quasar from the level of simply 'awesome' well into the land of 'absolutely ludicrous.' As a Construct, the Quasar is immune to FEAR and Toxic, and like all Cynwall constructs, is immune to the Banishment and Supreme Banishment spells.
Nalkyr Maloth, Initiate Dragon - Another big hitter for the Cynwall army, though this time it comes in the form of a 200 AP dragon caster character. Yes, you read that correctly. Nalkyr Maloth is downright amazing, but for 200 AP, he darn well better be.
15/20
4-10
5-12
3
9 FEAR
5
Dragon breath / FOR 10, range: 20-30-40
Enormous, Spirit of Light, Initiate of Light/Solaris, Recovery/3, Born Killer, Flight
Cynwall Initiate
Heavy artillery with area of effect
200 AP
Note that while he can be fielded in a 400 point game, he cannot be fielded in a 400 point game with the Light Dragon theme, as this would bring him above the 50% maximum for heroes. This is probably an intentional design choice.
It is probably best to forgoe direct damage magic spells with this caster, and instead use him for spell buffs. With his STR 10 AoE breath weapon, he is already well able to dish out the ranged support damage, and as a Cynwall Dragon, he can use his breath weapon while in hand to hand combat, and is immune to his own flames. Speaking of hand to hand combat, there is little reason to keep him out of it. His stats are not as amazing as the 175 point Cynwall Dragon, but they are still pretty darn amazing. Add a dive-bomb bonus on top of that, and he'll be in a position to dish out some serious hand to hand damage.
The Cynwall Ways
The Army of the Republic
For 0 AP, this way allows you to field up to 6 regulars or veterans per card provided at least 50% of your force is made up of regulars and/or or veterans. Two solos are selectable here. The first is called Republican Pool. It costs 3 AP, and allows you to choose between Artifact / 1, Loyal / 1, and Fine Blade (you must choose one at the beginning of the game). The other solo is called Brother-in-arms, costs 1 AP, and gives Survival Instinct.
The Light Dragon
For 1 AP per fig, and provided that at least 30% of your strategic value is made up of Dragons (Cynwall Dragons or Wyrms), not only do the dragons acquire scout, but a number of Cynwall units equal to the combined Force of your dragons also gain the ability. There are two solos available, one of which buffs the Dragon aura ability (allowing it to stack up to three times), the other of which gives Consciousness. This theme is not entirely practical for a 400 point game, but can be made to work, provided you don't mind having a frighteningly low model count. This theme can really shine in 600 AP+ games, but Ragnarok is where it really comes into its own.
If you insist on using this Way in Confrontation, make good use of your Scouts. Be creative. Try to give scout to models that would horrify you to face as scouts. A scouting dragon teamed up with a scouting Echahim and Khidarym can make for an amazing strike force, and a scouting Nelphaell is just wrong on many different levels.
The Equanime Monestaries
Point for point, this is, in my opinion, the best of the Cynwall Ways. For the cost of two AP per fig, provided you have at least one Cynwall Warrior-monk per slice of 200 AP (even incomplete) that you field, all friendly fighters gain Sequence/1 (+1 to their Sequence value if they already have the ability) and +1 INI. Now, that in itself is amazingly good, but what really brings this theme into the realm of sheer awesome is the solos. One of them is just OK. For 2 AP, you can give a fighter Loyal/1. The other, Martial Teacher, is downright jaw-droppingly amazing. For 4 AP, you can give an Equanime a solo that gives Counter-attack to every friendly fighter (apart from Constructs) inside his aura of faith. Add some divine spells on top of that, and this theme becomes pure win.
With this theme, it is helpful to go for models with high attack and defense scores. Most Cynwall have that, naturally, but some are higher than others. If you are paying for the Martial Teacher solo (and it is always, *always* worth it), it is helpful to prioritize units that can put Concentration into Defense to help you get those Counter-Attacks.
The Elder's Legacy
Another good, solid theme. This Way costs 1 AP per nonconstruct fig you include in the army, and at least 50% of your force must be made up of Constructs. In return for paying this cost with every nonconstruct, every Construct becomes 3 AP cheaper. For 2 AP, you can give Resolution/2 to any construct. For 4 AP, you can give Recovery/3 to any Cynwall magician who masters Solaris magic. Finally, for 3 AP, you can give any Akhamial +2.5 MOV and Scout. This last point is worth underlining. +2.5 MOV and Scout for 3 AP. And for including them in the force, they cost 3 AP less. There's no reason *not* to do this.
Obviously, with this theme, it is best to focus on a construct army supported by spellcasters. Someone had to state the obvious, right? Consider it stated. Still, don't be afraid to mix in some non-construct fighters (so long as you meet the 50% construct minimum). Scouting Akhamials can cause some serious nightmares for an enemy force, but don't get carried away - Akhamials, though amazing units, are very easily overwhelmed if you send them out unsupported against any but the most vulnerable targets. Unless your intent is a suicide run, the usual rules for scouts apply.
I like to use my upgraded Akhamials to get off free charges to tie up enemy heavies for a round while the rest of my force pounces on their support. The 3.5 changes have been particularly helpful in this regard, giving them an assault fire shot on top of their already fear-immune charge. Sacrificing 14 AP to tie up and possibly wound a Predator of Blood, or a Tyrant, a D-Clone, or the like? I'll take that trade.
The Way of the Trihedron
The Way of the Trihedron requires that you form at least one group of three Cynwall units to be a trihedron. You can actually include as many trihedrons as you please, though. It costs 1 AP per fig to bind it to this theme. In return, each trihedron is activated on its own card (even if each fig in the trihedron is different), and every trihedron member gains Survival Instinct if they are within 10cm of another member of the trihedron. In Trihedrons that contain a Faithful and at least one fig which (not the Faithful) has a piece of Helianthic equipment, then each survival instinct roll each member of the trihedron makes can be rerolled once.
The solos for this Way are interesting. The first, geared towards Dogs of War, (1 AP) allows you to exchange renown for resource points at the end of every scenario at a 1 to 1 ratio. The second can be given to any character who is part of a trihedron, and gives that character leadership/10 (or +10 cm to their leadership range) at a cost equal to either their COU or their DIS, whichever is higher. The last solo gives Scout for 3 AP to any fig with a RES less than or equal to 10.
The Way of the Trihedron is one that I have been doing much experimenting with as of late, and I find that I like it almost as much as I like the Equanime Monestaries. The theme drastically changes the way you design your army: you need each Trihedron to be able to function on its own as well as within the larger context of your army, and once this is accomplished, it becomes something like playing three (or more, or less) seperate Dogs of War squads simultaneously and in support of each other.
Try to put together into the same trihedron units that have synergies with each other. A trihedron that consists of an Equanime, a Khidarym, and a Kestrel, for example (Kestrels and Khidaryms work well together, Sequence + Feint is always a winner, and while he's at it, the Equanime can toss Lethal Vision onto the Khidarym). Another trihedron that has brought me much success is an all scouting Trihedron that consists of Nelphaell, an Azure Hunter, and an Asadar bodyguard. Maelyn (with helianthic masterpiece and solar power) is best put into a trihedron that can make use of her helianthic buffs, and so on.
With this theme, it is probably best to substitute Echahims for Varsyms and Varsym Killers: the Echahim's mobility is not going to be as useful when it is compelled to remain within 10 cm of its fellows lest it break the trihedron.
Blade of Truth
Here's the one everyone likes to talk about, and it's every bit as good as people say. For 1 AP per fig, you gain the potential to gain +1 concentration for every Cynwall with the ability in your army. The catch? Before the match begins, you must offer your opponent the chance to surrender. So long as you remember to do so, everyone with the ability gains +1 concentration.
As if that were not enough, the solos bring this Way well into the realm of awesome. The first, Ire (2 AP), gives Implacable / 1 to whoever you give it to, which is cool in Confrontation, but downright amazing in Rag'narok. This is particularly evil to give to Quasars. They will usually kill their target, and having an additional pursuit move can be exactly what you need in a combat situation. The second, Determination, is the one most people talk about. For 2 AP, you can put your Concentration into any stat except for POW or Aspects. In case you weren't paying attention, this is the solo that lets you have Azure Hunters with an AIM of 6.
Finally, this Way changes the Cynwall rules of alliance. Instead of the normal '30%' rules, a Blade of Truth army can take up to 33% of its army as Griffins, and 33% of its army as Lions. The remaining 33% must be made up of Cynwall bound to the Blade of Truth. Blade of Truth armies cannot include other allies, save for Elementals or Immortals.
People talk a lot about Azure Hunters who can hit on a roll of a 1 at medium range (up to 40 cm away), but for my money, Khidaryms with Concentration / 3 is where it's at. With STR 11, they are downright impressive as heavy hitters; with DEF 8, there is little they cannot block, and you can succesfully perform a sustained defense against all but the most skillful enemy fighters.
Be strategic about who you give Determination to. Azure Hunters is a good bet, but not the only good bet. Varsym Killers with a pumpable RES (and 3 points they can put into it) can go a long way towards making the unit more survivable, and the same goes for Nelphaell. Nelphaell with RES 5? Not so impressive. Nelphaell with RES 8? Now that's more like it. On the other hand, a Nelphaell with an AIM of 8 is going to send shivers of fear up most people's spines. Conversely, giving Determination to Sylann gives you a potential DIS as high as 11, and that's *without* a War-Staff! Be creative. You are limited only by the current pool of Cynwall units in release.