Intercessor Kreoss

Template:Procbox This model is playable only in an Unlimited format.

Bestowed the ancient title of Intercessor reserved for the faith’s greatest champion, Mikael Kreoss has complete authority over the Protectorate’s armies and speaks with the voice of Hierarch Severius himself. Intercessor Kreoss leads his men from atop his great steed alongside a vanguard of his Exemplar Venger brothers. Bearing his spear Conviction, Kreoss acts as Menoth’s rightful judgment made manifest upon the world.

Basic Info

Warcaster abilities:

• Focus Manipulation

• Battlegroup Controller

• Power Field

• Spellcaster

• Independent Model

• Leader

Feat : Invocations of the True Law

• Enemy upkeep spells and animi in Kreoss's Template:CTRL range immediately expire.
• Then Kreoss can cast each of his upkeep spells without spending focus.

Abilities

• Template:Cavalry
• Template:Divine Inspiration
• Template:Elite Cadre
• Template:Reposition 3

Weapons

• Conviction - 2" reach, P+S 14 melee weapon.
  • Template:Blessed
  • Template:Magical Damage
  • Template:Brutal Charge
• Mount - 0.5" range, POW 12 mount attack.

Spells

{{Category: Template:Arcane Ward

}}[[Category: 

]]

[[:Category:{{{name}}}|{{{name}}}]]	Cost	RNG	AOE	POW	DUR	OFF
	2	6	-	-	Upkeep	No
Target friendly Faction warjack can charge or make slam or trample power attacks without spending focus. The warjack gains +2 SPD when it charges or makes a slam or trample power attack. Models slammed by the warjack are moved +2".
No errata for {{{name}}} ([[:Category:Errata-{{{name}}}|Create]])
[[:Category:{{{name}}}|{{{name}}}]]	Cost	RNG	AOE	POW	DUR	OFF
	2	6	-	-	Upkeep	No
Target friendly Faction warjack can charge or make slam or trample power attacks without spending focus. The warjack gains +2 SPD when it charges or makes a slam or trample power attack. Models slammed by the warjack are moved +2".
No errata for {{{name}}} ([[:Category:Errata-{{{name}}}|Create]])

Theme Forces

• Protectorate
  • Template:Exemplar Interdiction. He gains Aegis in this theme.
  • Template:Guardians of the Temple
  • Template:The Creator's Might. He can start the game with upkeeps in play, and upkeep them for free in turn 1, in this theme.
  • Template:The Faithful Masses
  • Template:Warriors of the Old Faith. This is a "shared theme" with Khador. He gains Line Breaker in this theme.

• Other Factions
  • Khador players can use this warcaster in the Template:Warriors of the Old Faith theme. He gains Line Breaker in this theme.

Thoughts on Kreoss3

Kreoss3 in a nutshell

It's Kreoss! Kreoss on a horse! The first of Protectorate's casters to be promoted to cavalry, Kreoss3 offers a different playstyle to many other warcasters in the Faction, being very mobile and working closely with his army. His stats have crept a bit higher since his first incarnation as Kreoss1, and his abilities and the way he interacts with his army have similarly changed with each new incarnation.

Kreoss3 is a cavalry caster, that also supports other cavalry, and Exemplar Vengers shine with him. But he is on a large base, which can leave him exposed. His feat is not intuitive to use to best effect, or even particularly strong. He can threaten deeply, has a wide selection of spells, and his mobility and long threat range can give your opponent kittens in trying to protect their own caster.

Feat thoughts

Kreoss3 does not have one of the more sexy or obviously game-affecting feats in the game. Let's face it, it looks rather lacklustre - and yes it requires a bit of effort to get the most out of it.

Spell thoughts

Kreoss3 has a healthy selection of 6 spells available, and 4 of those are upkeeps. Upkeeps are important for this version of Kreoss: his reasonably high focus, means he can maintain 4 of them a turn and still have some leftover for his battlegroup. Heck, even his feat is all about upkeeps. It is possible (with a little help from an attached Hierophant or nearby Wrack) to cast all the upkeeps in the first turn of the game, but this means there is nothing much for his Battlegroup, but with Power Up this is fine as they are likely only running up to try and keep pace with the army anyway. In most situations, he should be safe enough to do this and not need to camp any focus on the first turn. It is worth thinking about which units/models in the army are going to receive which upkeep, as unfortunately, a unit cannot benefit from both Arcane Ward and Ignite at the same time. Who needs more protection on the approach? Who needs to hit harder? Be prepared to review these priorities as the game progresses and 'cycle' or recast these as the tactical situation demands and priorities change.

• Arcane Ward - A DEF boost cannot be bad. The best target for this is a unit, as it won't make his heavies too much harder to hit. On his beloved Exemplar Vengers this makes them much harder to hit, giving the same defense as Daughters of the Flame or Flame Bringers. Speaking of which, those two units become very hard to hit/remove with such high levels of DEF, and better targets for this spell. Don't forget that Kreoss himself, who doesn't have a particularly high DEF for a warcaster, would greatly benefit from this spell, improving his survivability if he is getting into the thick of things. The additional effect of making the target immune to spells is not one that will always be needed, but try and remember it, as sometimes that feature could be more valuable than the DEF boost.

• Assail - A valuable spell for board control, particularly to score in scenarios with Zones or flags, But don't just consider this spell for the free power attacks/charges/slams. It can also slightly increase the speed of a slower warjack earlier in the game. A SPD 4 warjack can run 8", but with Assail, it could declare a charge against a distant target, and get 9" up the board (but won't make any difference for a SPD 5 warjack). A small bonus, but in the faster armies it can be very useful for helping keep the warjacks not too far behind the action.

• Crevasse - A peculiar ranged attack spell, in that you get to may a short spray attack if you box the attacked model, starting at the boxed model. So, what is the use for this? Well, it could deliver a moderate POW magic attack deep into the enemy with the right positioning. The range can be extended, again with the Hierophant or an Arc Node. If the enemy caster is within 6" of the boxed target then they could also be targetted. Another use is clearing a line of infantry as sprays ignore the target in melee penalties. Kill a grunt, and then potentially several more of his fellows near him. Of course, this relies on killing the first model struck. A feature of this spell that is worth remembering is that any boxed models are Removed From Play - they cannot come back and so this spell has extra value against armies relying on recursion.

• Death Sentence - If Kreoss3 needs something dead fast, this is the spell to make it happen. It has a moderate range, though a Hierophant to increase that by 2", or an arcnode could help get it where it needs to be. A good spell to 'cycle' - that is upkeep at the start of the turn on one target which is then attacked (and hopefully destroyed), then recast on a new target. It is the best help against the higher DEF units/models. Vengers with Kreoss3 are unlikely to be missing much against a target with this upkeep on them and their own Divine Inspiration.

• Force Hammer - A more typical ranged attack spell, this one is expensive though as it has the added bonus of slamming the target away. It has the same POW as Crevasse so it is more likely to be used to control the board (moving models via the slam), or when you need the little extra range that this spell has over Crevasse. But for a caster wanting to maintain a large number of upkeeps, the need will have to be very severe to consider using this expensive spell.

• Ignite - Just a good utility spell, as Feora1 and Reznik1 can attest to. With this and Hymn of Battle a warjack is getting +4 to damage rolls. Exemplar Venger charges can remove heavies, and Daughters of the Flame and Flame Bringers just eat through the enemy. Again, don't forget the Critical Fire effect too.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Big target on a big base gets shot.
• Anti Upkeep tech and abilities that increase spell cost frustrate him.

Tricks & Tips

• His feat was made for Spell Cycling - you get to Assail with two units in the turn, Ignite with two units, and you get a free Death Sentence (which you probably want to boost)

List Building Advice

Strategy

His main method of winning is moving fast and hitting hard, often with Exemplar Vengers. He fixes speed with Assail, accuracy with Death Sentence, and damage with Ignite. Additionally, he's an extremely competent combatant, especially if you put Ignite on him - don't be afraid to send him into targets mid to late game.

Theme Thoughts

In case it wasn't obvious enough, Kreoss3 really likes Exemplars. Not just only Vengers as his upkeeps make all Exemplar Units better.

• Exemplar Vengers have a 52% chance of getting 9 or better on normal attack rolls thanks to their Elite Cadre or have an 80% chance of hitting DEF 14 on impact attacks. Also an ignited charge attack with a Venger's lance on average does about 28 points of damage. They hit hard and hit extremely accurately. And it's a good idea to bring multiple units of them.
• Arcane Ward on any of the Exemplar units is gold, on Exemplar Errants especially though as they come with natively good DEF.
• Gravus makes any Exemplar unit that isn't Vengers faster and collects their souls, which turns him into an absolute beast under the Elite Cadre and Death Sentence. Additionally, Brother's Keeper will help keep Kreoss safe from status effects.

• Flame Bringers love to be made DEF 16 under Arcane Ward. As for that matter so do Daughters of the Flame.

• Vengers and Gravus are also in this theme. As are Flame Bringers. Line Breaker stacks with Divine Inspiration on Venger models, making their impact attacks extremely accurate.
• The Khadoran Devastator is among the best targets for the Assail spell.
• The War Dog coupled with the abundance of Shield Guards in this theme will keep him safe.

Battlegroup

File:FireOfSalvation.jpg

Fire of Salvation is Kreoss's pet warjack, that he can take in any theme.

• Two warjacks - you can't support many.
• An arc node if you don't want to play recklessly far forward
• Fire of Salvation is his pet warjack that he can take in any theme force. It can catch careless enemies napping as no one expects the SPD 5 warjack to move 12" in a turn.

Starting a 25 point Brawl list

In 2020.11 Phillip Melvin, one of the LOS authors, put together this list for the Brawlmachine format. It was then updated for the 2021.10 errata. He even wrote about its playstyle and expanded it beyond 25 points, which you can read here.

Theme - Warriors of the Old Faith

Kreoss3: [+28 WJP]

• Fire of Salvation: [13 pts]
• Revenger: [8 pts]
• Devout: [7 pts]

High Paladin Dartan Vilmon: [Free] Template:Grey

High Exemplar Gravus: [7 pts]

Exemplar Vengers (Min unit): [11 pts]

Initiates of the Wall: [7 pts]

Template:Brawl

Other

Trivia

Released in the Warmachine: Colossals expansion (2012)

Video Battle Reports

• 2019.07 Deathclock Dave, vs Thagrosh1
• 2018.07 Not Snakes Gaming, vs Crosse2
• Template:VBR