Karchev & Deathjack, Malignant Fusion

File:Khador Logo.jpg File:Cryx Logo.jpg

Template:FH2

As the world ended at Hengehold, the Greylord Karchev the Terrible fell in battle. The warjack chassis carrying his withered mortal remains was shredded, leaving him to crawl along using his sole functioning mechanikal limb. Yet Karchev was too stubborn to die; he made a dangerous decision how to survive.

In the battle wreckage nearby, Karchev found the remains of the Deathjack, a nightmare helljack of legend. Karchev knew the creature drew much of its power from the enourmous Skulls of Hate fused to it, which were said to regenerate its hull. Thus, Karchev tore the Skulls from the ruined Deathjack and clamped them onto his own metal frame.

The fusion of the two created a mechanikal horror. Karchev's mind constantly pitted against the Deathjack's horrific intent to control their shared body. Karchev has control, but only for now. The unholy terror they've become cares not for loot or gear, fortune or glory; it exists only to destroy.

Basic Info

Warcaster abilities:

• Focus Manipulation

• Battlegroup Controller

• Power Field

• Spellcaster

• Independent Model

• Leader

• Note: When taken in a Cryx army, he can only take Cryx warjacks. When taken in a Khador army, he can only take Khador warjacks.

Feat: To the Slaughter

Official wording:

1. While in Karchev & Deathjack's Template:Control range, this model and models in its battlegroup are SPD 8.
2. When an affected model ends its Normal Movement in melee with one or more enemy models, the affected model gains 1 focus point.

To the Slaughter lasts for one turn.

Abilities

• Template:Construct
• Template:Hate Infused
• Template:Meat for the Beast
• Template:Monster in the Machine

Weapons

Sinkhole
File:Gun icon.jpg		RNG			ROF			AOE			POW			LOCATION
		10			1			4			12			-
Template:Magical Damage
Necroclaw
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S				LOCATION
		1				6				18				Left
Template:Magical Damage Template:Open Fist
Sunderer
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S				LOCATION
		2				7				19				Right
Template:Magical Damage

Spells

{{Category: Template:AbattoirTemplate:Death WardTemplate:Locked Horns

}}[[Category:

]]

[[:Category:{{{name}}}|{{{name}}}]]	Cost	RNG	AOE	POW	DUR	OFF
	2	Self	Ctrl	-	Turn	No
Spellcaster and friendly Faction models beginning their activations in the spellcaster's control range gain Relentless Charge for one turn.
No errata for {{{name}}} ([[:Category:Errata-{{{name}}}|Create]])
[[:Category:{{{name}}}|{{{name}}}]]	Cost	RNG	AOE	POW	DUR	OFF
	2	Self	Ctrl	-	Turn	No
Spellcaster and friendly Faction models beginning their activations in the spellcaster's control range gain Relentless Charge for one turn.
No errata for {{{name}}} ([[:Category:Errata-{{{name}}}|Create]])

Theme Forces

• Cryx
  • Template:Black Industries
  • Template:Dark Host
  • Template:The Ghost Fleet
  • Template:Scourge of the Broken Coast

• Khador
  • Template:Armored Korps
  • Template:Si
  • Template:Jaws of the Wolf
  • Template:Legion of Steel
  • Template:Si
  • Template:WG Kommand. In this theme the caster gains Sacrificial Pawn [Winter Guard trooper model].
  • Template:Wolves of Winter

Thoughts on Deathchev

Karjack in a nutshell

K2D2 is (mostly) a dedicated battlegroup caster. He has an effective 8 Focus, but no offensive spells to spend it on, so usually he'll be casting his variety of expensive support spells and feeding focus to his battlegroup. He can also turn himself into a super-solo style caster; he is hard to kill with both Locked Horns and Death Ward on himself, and improves his own efficiency and accuracy with Full Throttle (provided he's making more than 3 attacks). Beware of making him too exposed, however - his base defenses are that of a heavy warjack, and every faction has the tools to kill a heavy warjack.

Compared to his first incarnation, his jacks have one turn of super-speed (vs Karchev1's multiple turns of medium-speed with Road to War) and no damage buff. On the other hand, he has multiple stacking ARM buffs for warjacks every turn, which is unique in Khador.

Feat thoughts

Doubles the speed of Khador heavies, and gives even Cryx jacks a boost. Use it to either get an alpha strike on your opponent (a rare treat for Khador) or Run to be almost on the middle of the table at the top of turn 1, effectively cutting the board in half and getting a huge scenario bonus. Don't discount the extra Focus from the feat, either. Not having to allocate more than 1 Focus to each 'jack on the turn you go in lets you fully fuel a huge battlegroup.

Remember that both parts of the feat effect Karjack himself, too.

Note that if you're suffering a SPD debuff, using the feat doesn't overwrite that entirely (for instance if you were base SPD 4 with a -2 SPD debuff, then use the feat, you'll change to base SPD 8 with a -2 SPD debuff).

Spell thoughts

Deathchev will normally upkeep Death Ward, cast Full Throttle, use Meat for the Beast to get a free Locked Horns, and camp/allocate his remaining focus. Onslaught is redundant in Jaws of the Wolf, but crucial in other Khador or Cryx themes.

Most of the time Deathchev will be activating before his warjacks, so that he can get Full Throttle in to play. As a result he won't often cast Abattoir, unless it's to "un-jam" his jacks so that they can charge deeper.

Abattoir

• Abattoir can be cast twice per turn - once during Deathchev's activation, and a second time if/when you trigger Meat for the Beast.
• If you cast Full Throttle first, the Abbatoir attacks are boosted as well.
• Even if it only affects one or two warjacks, it can be worth casting if a single attack would kill the model they're engaged with. That way when they activate they can go do work against a different target.
• Remember that warjacks can't trigger Combat-Action-only effects from Abattoir (such as the Decimator's Sustained Attack, or the Desecrator's Critical Shred) ... unless you use Meat for the Beast to cast Abattoir during a jack's own activation. In that case, whichever warjack triggered Meat for the Beast can potentially trigger Combat-Action-only stuff (to be confirmed).

Death Ward

• You could put Death Ward on Deathchev himself to give him an amazing anti-assassination statline of 12/21 (23 with Locked Horns).

He also benefits from choosing the column (because "effects that modify the manner in which damage is applied to a warjack also apply to him") - this lets you keep the Skulls of Hate intact for as long as possible.

• You'll generally want to put Death Ward on your highest value character warjack (such as Behemoth or Barathrum) or your highest ARM warjack (such as a Devastator or Inflictor).
• You could put Death Ward on a unit and sprinkle Locked Horns on top for a tanky +4 ARM unit ... but it can be difficult to find a unit that takes such an ARM buff nicely and is fast enough to keep up with Deathchev's battlegroup and that Deathchev can spare the points for.

Full Throttle

• This spell enables Karjack to run a large battlegroup very efficiently. Free charges and boosted attack rolls means your jacks can focus on buying attacks and boosting damage, so it is a pseudo-damage buff in a way. You should cast this every turn where you want to get work out of your jacks. Remember that it affects Deathchev as well.

Locked Horns

• Karjack's other great (and expensive) support spell, you'll want to cast this every turn that you expect to be attacked in melee, often as your free cast from your Meat for the Beast ability. It sets you up to trade up in most engagements.
• It's a surprisingly persistent buff even into anti-magic enemies, since it a) is not an upkeep and doesn't get knocked off by upkeep removal spells, b) grants the 'Unyielding' ability rather than a straight ARM buff, so Blessed weapons don't bypass it, and c) is cast on Deathchev himself rather than the 'jacks it protects.
• It affects troops as well as your battlegroup...though as mentioned, bringing good troop targets can be difficult.

Onslaught

• Depending on the layout of the table, the make up of your battlegroup and the theme you play in you might not ever cast this. In Jaws of the Wolves it's a dead spell, "crab jacks" won't need it either.
• Note that this spell, just like Locked Horns, affects more than just jacks, but infantry as well.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• As both a living model and a construct model, there are a plethora of debuffs that can be applied to him. For instance Paralysis (works vs living) and Erosion (works vs constructs).
• He has no offensive spells.
• He has no way of buffing damage. This is especially relevant in Khador, where non-caster damage buffs are all confined into one theme.
• In Cryx his feat is considerably worse than in Khador, because they have an abundance of SPD 6 heavies to begin with. So in Cryx his feat is essentially +2" of threat range and extra focus, which is of dubious value.
  • This also makes him compare unfavorably to Asphyxious3, who grants Unyielding for free and can give his warjacks +2 SPD every turn.

Tricks & Tips

• Being both a living model and construct model, there are several neat interactions available with Cryx models - refer to the list building section.

List Building Advice - Cryx

Strategy

Deathchev is a battlegroup caster, and his feat gives you one turn of extreme speed. You want jacks that can get in and do a ton of damage on feat turn, then hopefully weather the retaliation with Locked Horns. Since Cryx jacks aren't known for their durability, you'll be looking for numbers rather than quality.

Cryx theme thoughts

Deathchev will normally be played in either Black Industries (so his warjacks become more durable with Carapace) or in Scourge of the Broken Coast (so his warjacks become more accurate/powerful with Gang Fighter).

• Asphxyious4 locked horns on him is great and he and his battlegroup can apply a much needed damage buff. It's alot of points to not spend of battlegroup jack though...
• Doctor Stygius can heal Deathchev for 5 hitpoints, since he is living. On the other hand, Deathchev has zero things that Stygius can spell slave so it's probably not the best combo.
• Death Archon - A fitting inclusion for Deathchev, Mortal Fear stacks very well with Death Ward and Locked Horns. However it does take a bunch of points that you might rather spend on 'jacks.
• Deneghra0 - She comes with a damage buff and can be a free model, so she provides something to him he very much needs at a very low cost to him.
• Ragman - Dark Shroud for onyl 3 points and your merc slot. Thanks to Sac Pawn you can get him up the board safely if you redirect the shots to DJ K or one of his more durable jacks.

This is where Deathchev will spend most of his time. Giving him access to all of Cryx's character 'jacks and numerous battlegroup-support pieces, this is definitely the theme for him. Between Locked Horns and Carapace his jacks will almost always be tankier than an opponent would expect from Cryx.

Warjacks

• See #Cryx Battlegroup section for the non-character warjack recommendations.
• Barathrum is BFFs with Deathchev. He takes Locked Horns well, and between Countercharge, Drag Below, and the feat SPD buff he can get to some really unexpected places.
• Kharybdis has the longest base threat range of any non-colossal Cryx jacks, likewise he can get the farthest under Deathchev. He also brings a cloud to hide Deathchev behind.
• Erebus can use the Abattoir attack to apply stationary to an enemy model.
  • If Erebus is engaged, you can cast Abattoir before Erebus activates. This lets him apply stationary to the model engaging him, then activate without fear of free strikes. This is especially useful on feat turn.
  • Alternatively Abattoir can be cast after Erebus has activated, if he ran/overtaked into a non-stationary enemy.
• Malice can pull something 21" from where she started on feat turn. Potentially into range for your other jacks to get focus off of on feat turn!

Non-warjacks

• Warwitch Sirens can help fuel your jacks.
• Black Ogrun Iron Mongers are available in this theme and can help fix your battlegroup, fix Deathchev, and provide a to hit bonus that makes most cryx jacks hit reliably into DEF 16, even higher with Full Throttle.
• Necrotech - Take three of these as one requisition option. They keep your scenario game alive by turning scrapped jacks into Scrap Thralls. They also occasionally repair if needed.
• Machine Wraith - No synergies with his card, but as incorporeal solos they are excellent flag campers.
• Bloat Thrall Overseer Mobius - No synergies either, but he is an excellent free card and shooting solo.

Taking Deathchev in Scourge is tempting for the Gang Fighter bonus, but it becomes a question of balancing non-battlegroup points spent on gang fighter enablers vs spending points on your battlegroup. Do you want the slower Trolls or Ogrun that benefit more from Locked Horns, or the faster Satyxis that are better gang enablers? also keep in mind that your lights can simply outrun your troopers with him, and your heavies will be shot to pieces in no time without Carapace.

• Warwitch Sirens, Barathrum, Kharybdis, and Ironmongers (mentioned above) are also available in this theme.
  • WWS become very handy Gang Fighter enablers thanks to SPD 7 + Parry.
• Axiara's Tactician and battle plans can be applied to Deathchev, since he is living.
  • Give Deathchev Reposition 3", which is always useful. On turn 1 Deathchev can trample 8" forwards, cast spells, then repo another 3" forwards.
  • Give Deathchev Prowl, then dump one of Gaspy4's clouds on him.
  • Giving Deathchev Dodge is probably not going to save his DEF 12 butt from assassination, but if it ever did you would laugh your head off.
• The Satyxis Blood Priestess can give him a free upkeep and make him even more unkillable by guns.

Cryx Battlegroup

• Inflictors take Locked Horns well, and have a longer melee range than Slayers. Also they can act as Shield Guards for Gaspy and/or Deathchev.
• Desecrators love full throttle and turn into absolute monsters if Critical Shred goes off. Their main issue is their puny threat range, which Karchev fixes excellently.

List Building Advice - Khador

Strategy

Battlegroup-wide ARM buffs are very very rare in Khador, and for good reason: pushing our already sturdy jacks into ARM 22+ in melee can be difficult for an unprepared opponent to overcome. In addition, K2D2's Feat lets us possibly get an alpha strike, with most 'jacks threatening a 12" charge, with our few 2" reach jacks going up to 13". Maximizing those advantages is the key to getting the most out of this caster.

Khador Theme thoughts

Template:Header Jaws of the Wolf gives all of his jacks Pathfinder so you have even less reason to cast Onslaught. You also get an extra forest to hide behind which is neat.

• Sorscha0 - The all-important Boundless Charge on a stick. Her jack will miss out on the feat, but still benefit from Locked Horns.
• Kayazy Eliminators - Your remaining two requisition options. The Eliminators go around the flank to contest, score unit zones, or kill support.
• Ol' Grim - 6 points is steep, but having an incorporeal model to score flags with is invaluable and it ranged output is phenomenal.
• Kossite Woodsmen - They ambush and need no caster input. They also drive enemy models off the table edges and into the middle, right where you want them.
• Behemoth - Thanks to powerful attack, you don't get much of a return from Full Throttle, but Big B still hits like a truck, which is all Karjack wants from a jack. The ranged threat of the bombards is also significant. Death Ward and Locked Horns help protect your 20 pt investment.

Template:Header Wolves of Winter offers some armor debuff options that are less common in other themes. This lets you be more liberal and diverse with warjack choices.

• Ruin - The signature character jack of this theme, Ruin benefits hugely from Karjack's kit. Notably it starts at 21 ARM base and even collects souls to convert to Focus, while Full Throttle handles charges and boosts.
• Koldun Lord - Puppet Master, or a damage buff Karjack does not have himself, OR he can copy a spell from another Greylord, such as Blizzard or even Empower from a Forge Seer
• Void Archon - Another damage buff and a very good combat solo in it's own right.
• Greylord Forge Seer - Usually a pretty bad deal for 4 points, but Koldun Lords can copy their Empower spell so you can have up to four free focus a turn if you so desire.

Template:Header With so many warjacks and extra durability from Locked Horns, you're more likely to get use out of the +Repair theme bonus.

• Man-O-War Shocktroopers - This is more cute than good, but Onslaught, Death Ward and Locked Horns are pretty good on these guys, pushing their ARM to ridiculous levels. Having one unit that refuses to die could be a good way to anchor K2D2's force.
• Behemoth - For all the same reasons as above.

Template:Header If you want to go the "super solo" route with Deathchev, having Sac Pawn [Winter Guard] from the theme is a great way to deliver him intact. That said, not a lot of his other tools synergize well with masses of single-wound troops.

• Sorscha0 - She's available here as well, and stacking threat range extenders is still great. Her no-knockdown aura for Winter Guard models stacks great with Kovnik Joe's Tough battle plan, giving Karjack some Tough Sac Pawn targets that refuse to die!
• Beast-09 - Can be played under K2D2 in this theme, and is one of the best pieces in the game at assassinating.

• Greylord Adjunct - A free upkeep of Death Ward and +2 RNG on his support spells. Blizzard and Guidance are also very good spells.
• Death Archon - A fitting inclusion for Deathchev, Mortal Fear stacks very well with Death Ward and Locked Horns. However it does take a bunch of points that you might rather spend on 'jacks.

Khador Battlegroup

• Juggernaut - The Axe is very powerful, as P+S 19 is excellent with Abattoir and no damage buffs.
• Marauder - The cheapest and most spammable Khador jack that is not garbage.
• Kodiak - The chain attack means it has 3 initials, so it gets a lot out of Full Throttle.
• Berserker - A cheap jack to initiate trades and get Meat for the Beast going.
  • Full Throttle lets him output at least 3 attacks without risking Unstable (free charge, 2 initials, 1 bought ... plus free Berserk attacks).
  • Alternatively, the feat can be used to spend 4 focus in a single activation to maximize the chance of an explosion! Although you can't have more than 3 focus at once, you can spend 1 before you move to charge/trample/slam; and the feat will give you a 4th after the move. Note that you can choose to spend focus to charge even if you "can charge without spending focus".
• Mad Dog - With Fleet, this is the farthest threat range you can get on a Khador jack (16" under both K2D2's Feat and Sorscha0's Boundless Charge). If your opponent is parked just outside of your threat range, you can Feat, Run your other jacks 16", then charge and kill something unimportant with the Mad Dog, triggering a free cast of Abattoir for a pseudo-alpha strike.
  • Both of the above notes from the Berserker apply here as well.
• Devastator - The highest ARM skew you can archive in Khador. If you cast Abattoir before it activates it can close up again on its activation, too.

Other

Trivia

• Released 2021.10
• Deathjack1 and Karchev1 were released in the same anthology book (Warmachine: Apotheosis, 2005)
• Nicknames: Deathchev, Karjack, DJ Karchev <record scratch noise>, K2D2

Rules Clarifications

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