Erebus

The lives Erebus has claimed leave the helljack steeped in the spiritual detritus of a thousand bloody deaths. Invisible to most, this spiritual effluvium envelops the machine, lashing out at those who strike its blackened carapace. No weapon of man can repel Erebus, any more than the sharpest steel can stop the inevitable slide into the grave.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Construct
• Template:Cold Immunity
• Template:Overtake
• Template:Poltergeist
• Template:Bond

Weapons

Death Claw (x2)
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S				LOCATION
		1				6				16				1 each side
Template:Open Fist Template:Freeze

Theme Forces

• When taken by Scaverous
  • Template:Black Industries. Erebus gains Carapace in this theme.
  • Template:Dark Host
  • Template:The Ghost Fleet
  • Template:Scourge of the Broken Coast. Erebus gains Gang Fighter in this theme.

• When taken by anyone else
  • Template:Black Industries. Erebus gains Carapace in this theme.

Thoughts on Erebus

File:Erebus.jpg

The 2011-2017 "Upgrade Kit" version of the sculpt

Erebus in a nutshell

Erebus is a Slayer with mainly defensive bonuses. Between an extra point of defense, an extra armour point Poltergeist, and immunity to cold-based stationary, enemies will almost always be boosting to hit or risking getting pushed out of range. The extra point of armor will make him surprisingly resilient since your opponent is going to use so many resources on ensuring that they hit.

Erebus loses the third attack from his headbutt however makes up for it by having auto-apply stationary (as opposed to critical stationary) for both of his attacks and 'Overtake'.

Combos & Synergies

Scaverous

File:Scaverous1.gif

Scaverous1

Scaverous does not particularly care about his own character jack, and skips taking him as often as not.

• The buffs that Scav can give a warjack (Knowledge of the Damned and Death Ward) are just as good on any other warjack; and Scaverous would often prefer Deathjack, Barathrum, or even a Asphyxious4-Toro to fulfil the role of "beatstick heavy".
• Erebus is slightly pillow-fisted and Scav's only damage-fix is the costly Feast of Worms spell.
• The soul hoovering from the Bond is nice, but doesn't ignore soul denial or soul proximity rules. In fact Scaverous needs to be the closest eligible model, not Erebus, which can make hoovering them up even more tricky.

Other casters

Other casters can use Erebus in the Black Industies theme, or if you run out-of-theme.

• Lich Lord Venethrax can give Erebus Countercharge. If he manages to hit his target, he can unceremoniously end their activation.
• Lich Lord Terminus can give Erebus Berserk via the Ravager spell. Combined with Erebus' Overtake The result is killing potential with no actual upper limit on how many troops you can kill, a very valuable tool particularly on Terminus' feat turn.
• Skarre2 has Death Ward (same as Scaverous) and Black Spot which, in an ideal situation, would allow Erebus 10 attacks. 10 attacks combined with Overtake means he can realistically slaughter a unit of infantry. Lastly, Skarre's Future Sight ability increases Erebus' focus efficiency significantly.
• Bane Witch Agathia can provide Erebus with Hellwrought, which make him harder to kill and gives him an-out-of-activation attack, which is particularly valuable given his auto-apply stationary.
• Karchev & Deathjack - Unyielding, Full Throttle and with Abbatoir you can tag a model engaging you with stationary and then move away during Erebus's activation.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Erebus is somewhat pillowfisted. He has only 2 attack compared to a Slayer's 3 and no access to combo strike.
• He is expensive for his combat ability.
• He is harder to kill than a Slayer (and 30% more expensive), but he's still easy to kill.
• Models with 2" reach could miss him, be affected by Poltergeist, and still be in range for another attack.

Tricks & Tips

• The main things to do with Erebus are make him very hard to hit and threaten freezing free strikes; his offence is worse than a Slayer never mind a Seether.
• Scaverous needs to be the closest eligible Soul Taker for the bond to work - it doesn't have the "regardless of proximity" clause.

Other

Trivia

• Originally released in the Wrath expansion book (2011).
• Erebus was originally sold as an "upgrade kit", which meant you needed to purchase the regular plastic Slayer model and then you attach the Erebus bitz to it.
  • As of 2017, he was repackaged in a new multi-jack kit that also includes the bits for a Slayer.
• His name comes from the Greek god of Dusk or Nightfall. Interestingly, Erebus' daughter is named Hemera.