Phil and I are about to kick off another ANNIHILATION campaign on VASSAL and we thought it’d be a bit of fun to have a couple of small games as a prelude to the campaign. We didn’t really want any warcasters involved as such powerful characters can overwhelm a small military action. We decided we’d try out ‘Journeyman’ warcasters for Khador and the Protectorate of Menoth to lead our respective forces. In order to keep things simple we kept the basic stats, rules and cost of the Cygnar Journeyman Warcaster (P.121 of Prime MkII) as our basis, but decided to replace the spells.
Kovnik Warcaster
The Khadoran military is a rigid and disciplined organisation where men and women of the Empire fight side-by-side with brutal Warjacks. The stresses of battle can lead to the manifestation of arcane ability. This is a frightening experience as the soldier temporarily takes control of a marshalled ‘jack or finds energy shooting from their fingertips. The Khadoran command is quick to identify such individuals and place them in the care of the Greylords Covenant for their initial training.
The Khadorans do not believe in wasting resources on those unworthy, so trainee warcasters often find themselves on the frontline in command of an obsolete or barely functioning ‘jack early in their training. If they survive their arcane and military training continues.
| Spell | Cost | RNG | AOE | POW | UP | OFF | Description |
| Iron Flesh | 2 | 6 | – | – | Yes | No | Target friendly warrior model/unit gains +3 DEF but suffers –1 SPD. |
| Razor Wind | 2 | 10 | – | 11 | No | Yes | A blade of wind slices through the target model. |
Chosen of Menoth
Despite its small population the Protectorate of Menoth has a surprisingly large number of skilled warcasters. This is due to several reasons – meditative prayer often unlocks latent talents, a large proportion of the populace serves in the military at some stage (thus bringing them into proximity of Warjacks) and an ever vigilant priesthood keeping a watchful eye for any signs of arcane power.
Those to whom Menoth has given this gift are immediately separated from their former lives and placed into a strict regime of martial and spiritual training. Only the strongest of these worthy are chosen to command the valuable Warjacks. If they survive the perils of combat it is a sign that the Creator has marked them for a destiny of distinction.
| Spell | Cost | RNG | AOE | POW | UP | OFF | Description |
| Defender’s Ward | 2 | 6 | – | – | Yes | No | Target friendly Faction model/unit gains +2 DEF and ARM. |
| Immolation | 2 | 8 | – | 12 | No | Yes | Immolation causes fire damage. On a critical hit, the model hit suffers the Fire continuous effect. |
Basically, that’s one offensive and one defensive spell each – the same as the Cygnar version. We went with spells that are represented in the respective factions.
Let me know what you think.
Owen
SUUUUUPER broken. Giving each Khador caster Iron Flesh or each menite Defender’s Ward is way to powerful.
Could well be. We found in our game (not exactly extensive testing!) that they are super squishy and die to a stiff breeze. These are not intended for competitive play, but rather as a little flavour for a campaign. Sometimes a full blown warcaster is just too big a celebrity to warrant them leading a small mission.
Owen
I think you did a great job. Sounds fun too.
I don’t think they are overpowered at all. I’m assuming these games would have only one, maybe two journeys in them, so the defensive buffs would not be too powerful. Either way, with only 3 focus (IIRC) upkeeping either of those would greatly limit the journeyman’s power.
I think I might like to try this idea. What lists did you run with these guys?
-TikiiTorch
Journeymen are only FA: 1, so they really aren’t that over powered and you are right, they only have 3 focus. This keeps them dangerously close to the ‘jack. We played a 20pt game (remember no Warjack points!) with no Warcaster. My force was the Khador Journeyman, Juggernaut, min Winterguard, Widowmakers and Marksman. I wanted the force to represent a small outpost. I can’t remember the exact make up of Phil’s army, but he had Deliverers, Errants, Errant solo and a light ‘jack, plus his Journeyman. It made for a fun small game that wasn’t overpowered by the Warcaster. I mean, every scouting mission can’t contain one, can it?!
Owen
In the context of a Journeyman leading an army, I’d say they are pretty balanced. After all, despite the defensive buff and the powerfield they are pretty much paper thin. In the context of normal combat, being able to throw Iron Flesh on a unit of Winterguard while fielding someone like pVlad might be too silly to consider.
I like the concept though. Maybe write up a post about it more in depth? Or did I just miss that post?
Here’s a quick post on the game Phil and I played with them. When I get more gameplay in with them I’ll do a more in depth one.
Owen