View source for Satyxis Blood Witches

{{Cryxbox2
|{{Satyxis}} Blood Witches
|{{Cryx}} {{Unit}}
|Blood Hag
|[[Command Attachment]] 
}} [[Category: Model]]
{{4P|'''Black Fleet'''}}

''The sadism of the Satyxis is a legend among those who sail the waters of the Broken Coast. But even among the depraved Satyxis are a few whose appetites for atrocity are greater than their sisters. The Blood Witches work their dark magic through blighted ritual blades known as Blood Razors.''

''The blood hags lead their sisters in the most hallowed rites: sacrificing the males born to the Satyxis, initiating the girl children into the cruel ways of the Satyxis, and conducting the auguries that steer the fate of their people.''

=Basic Info=
{{Infobox-Model
| name  = {{PAGENAME}}
| altname=Unit{{/}}Hag
| image = Satyxis Blood Witches.png
| base  = Small
| spd   = 6
| str   = 5
| mat   = 6{{/}}7
| rat   irrelevant 
| def   = 13
| arm   = 12
| cmd   = 7{{/}}9
| hp    = 1{{/}}5
| size  = 6{{or}}10 +1 CA
| cost  = 7{{or}}11 +4 CA
| cost_note = 1.4 pts each (incl&nbsp;CA)
| fa    = 2
}}
 
===Abilities===
* '''''Entire unit
** {{Stealth}}
** {{Gang}}

* '''''Blood Hag only
** She has a better statline
** {{Dark Shroud|Hide_Cat=<!---YES--->}}
** {{Tactics|Blessed|Hide_Cat=}}
** {{Granted|Side Step|Hide_Cat=}} (''{{Side Step-alt|Hide_Cat=}}'')

===Weapons ===
{|class="wikitable"
! Leader & Grunts
|
{| class="wikitable"
{{Melee|Blood Razor|0.5|5|10|
* {{Magical damage}}
* {{Attack Type}}
** {{Blood Shadow}}
** {{Death Strike}} 
** {{Grievous Wounds}} }}
{{melee|Horns|0.5|3|8|
* {{Critical Knockdown}} }}
|}
|-
! Blood Hag
|
{| class="wikitable"
{{Melee|Blood Razor|0.5|5|10|
* {{Magical damage}}
* '''Attack Type
** '''Blood Shadow
** '''Death Strike
** {{Dispel|Hide_Cat=}} 
** '''Grievous Wounds }}
{{melee|Horns|0.5|3|8|
* '''Critical Knockdown }}
|}
|}

===Theme Forces ===
* '''''Cryx
** {{Scourge of the Broken Coast}}. Up to one unit of Blood Witches can gain [[Ambush]] in this theme.

* '''''Other Factions
** '''[[Infernal]]''' players can use this unit in the {{Hearts of Darkness|notbold=}} theme, but only if [[Mortenebra]] is leading the army.


=Thoughts on {{PAGENAME}}= 
[[File:Satyxis Blood Hag.png|thumb|Blood Hag - Command Attachment]]
==={{PAGENAME}} in a nutshell===
Blood Witches are cheap-ish light infantry who excel at dealing with the types of enemies who specialize in being difficult to remove. Their weapons are magical to cut through incorporeal models, they have Blessed to deal with buffed  models, and they have Grievous Wounds to deal with tough/regenerating models, and they have Death Strike to circumvent targeting restrictions and abilities triggered by taking damage from enemy attacks (such as [[Vengeance]] or [[Sanguine Bond]]).

Gang and multiple attack makes them very proficient at killing high defense models. If they can get the charge, their daggers have enough potential to deal significant damage to moderately armored targets, especially if the Blood Hag gets in close. 

They have a fragile statline, typical for light infantry, and they rely on stealth to survive. Once there they can be made more difficult to kill via Blood Shadow (although you miss out on the more offensive dagger abilities).

It's also worth mentioning that Death Strike is effectively a 3rd attack, so a single Blood Witch can net an impressive three kills a turn on hot dice. Obviously the ideal target is high STR, low ARM models but they tend to be rarer than hen's teeth. Keep an eye out for nearly dead warbeasts, otherwise treat it as a nice extra rather than a core ability.

===Thoughts on adding the CA===
Side Step and Blessed are pretty important buffs, so you are encouraged to always bring her.

===Combos & Synergies===
Being an independent unit they don't need help to do well, but they sure will appreciate it.

* Casters who do not support infantry can add Blood Witches to their forces with comfort. They are a relatively independent unit who cover a very large number of strange situations. They are remarkably cheap for their potential offensive power.
* They make good foot soldiers for a stealth skew list.
* Blood Shadow does not RFP and can be used against friendly models. You can kill your own thralls (and bring them back same turn with a necrosurgeon) to make your witches incorporeal. This helps mitigate their short threat range.
* Satyxis Blood Witches make excellent use of armor debuffs thanks to their high accuracy and moderate damage.

===Drawbacks & Downsides===
* Very low threat range, 9.5" is nothing to write home about, even if you factor in Ambush, and Cryx is not know for it's speed buffs.
* Very low armor and only moderate defense means that Blood Witches die very easily to any aggression. Stealth will keep them safe from a good deal of attacks, but scattering AoEs will remain a problem.
* Blessed will not improve the performance of Deathstrike as it is not considered to be an attack.
* Without charging and gang, they will struggle against moderately armored units.
* Low armor, defense, and gang means that this unit can be particularly vulnerable to tramples. Pay attention to your formation near heavy warjacks. 
* Getting work out of the Hag's Dark Shroud is risky. If she dies, the unit loses Side Step.
* The Dispel attack type on the Hag will remove debuffs if used. If you both want to remove buffs and benefit from a debuff, have the Hag attack last.

===Tricks & Tips===
* If your opponent's army derives benefits when you kill or damage their models (i.e., generating corpses for the [[Death Knell]]), you can use the damage roll from Death Strike to deny them as the damage is technically not caused by an enemy attack.
* As with many other Gang units, run models who are too far away to charge into engagement so the more isolated models in the squad can benefit from gang.
* Against models with rules or buffs that give them out-of-activation advances and attacks such as [[Dodge]], [[Riposte]], or [[Enliven]], open your attack with the horns to try to knock them down and prevent their countermeasures from working.
* The remixed Scourge theme grants them [[Ambush]]! While it's unlikely that your opponent will leave juicy targets within 12.5" of a table edge (most squishy support models will be more centrally located), it does mean that your witches can more easily get into the fray! It may be worth taking a minimum unit with the Blood Hag just to have a safe "laser" to run Dark Shroud in from 15.5" away. Not to mention that if you can deploy them behind enemy lines, it's very likely that they can spend a turn running to threaten important models like the [[Choir of Menoth]] or [[Cultist Band]]s. But even if your opponent is aware of the Ambushing threat ranges, they might end up bunching their entire army in the center, making scenario play more difficult, and helping you control where they go. This can be an advantage all on its own!


=Other=
===Trivia===
* Released in [[Forces of Warmachine: Cryx]] (2010)
* When the Hag was first released, her Entropic Force ability prevented warlocks using transfers; but was soon errata'd by PP because it was so mean to Trollbloods it wasn't even funny. (It's also since been replaced by Dark Shroud).

===Other Cryx models===
{{Index Cryx}} 
 
===Rules Clarifications===
{{RC Magical damage}}
{{RC Attack Type}}
{{RC Grievous Wounds}}
{{RC Blood Shadow}}
{{RC Death Strike}}
{{RC Critical Knockdown}}
{{RC Dispel}}
{{RC Stealth}}
{{RC Gang}}
{{RC Dark Shroud}}
{{RC Tactics}}
{{RC Blessed}}
{{RC Side Step}}

{{Edbox|To edit the Hag's tagged abilities, [{{FULLURL:Satyxis_Blood_Witches:Blood_Hag_(CA)|action=edit}} Click here]}}