Maximus

Maximus’ legend as a warlord was already on the rise when he and his warband came upon a group of Greylords and their doom reaver slaves. Though his warband was slain, Maximus fought on. When his weapon splintered, he snatched up a fellblade from one of the fallen. The magic of the Orgoth weapon took hold, heightening his rage and giving him the maddened resolve to hack down his remaining foes in seconds. Maximus is now consumed by hatred and driven to slaughter. He occupies a place somewhere between awe and terror among his own kind, a gore-splattered hero whose legend grows with each gruesome kill.

Basic Info

Minion - Works for Template:Circle minion, Template:Legion minion, Template:Skorne minion, or Template:Trollblood minion.

Abilities

• Template:Tough
• Template:Berserk
• Template:Elite Cadre
• Template:Relentless Charge
• Template:Spell Ward
• Template:Unyielding

Weapons

• Fellblade - 2" reach, P+S 13 melee weapon
  • Template:Magical Weapon
  • Template:Weapon Master

Theme Forces

• Minion
  • Template:Thornfall. Maximus gains Rise in this theme.
  • Template:Will Work for Food

• Other Factions
  • As a Minion solo, Maximus can also be taken in a bunch of other Faction's themes. Refer to #Other Theme Forces.
    Special mention to the following, which have no limit to the number of Minion solos:
  • Template:Disciples of Agony (Skorne)
  • Template:Oracles of Annihilation (Legion) In this theme, this Minion becomes a Blighted model. Also, enemy models that end their activation within 2" of this model suffer continuous corrosion.
  • Template:Secret Masters (Circle) - this model may be taken as a requisition option in this theme despite not being a Circle solo

Thoughts on Maximus

Maximus in a nutshell

A roving ball of death, Maximus hits very hard and threshes a circle of infantry around him. He is, effectively, a doom reaver. A doom reaver made of delicious, hate-and-rage-filled bacon.

His Elite Cadre added in the 2021 update makes him one of the best reasons to run Farrow Slaughterhousers in Thornfall Alliance the added durability he gives the unit in melee adds a lot to there staying power.

Combos & Synergies

As he is spell warded, it's nearly impossible to directly buff Maximus, but any caster offering generic buffs (or debuffs) can help him out.

• Helga1 offers Dash, which can increase Max's speed, as well as giving him parry to get deeper into the enemy before starting the berserk train.
• Calaban offers Parasite as a debuff, dropping enemy armor by three points. With Max charging something at -3ARM, it's likely going to die
• Barnabas1 has Warpath which allows movement from his battlegroup when something gets killed in his CTRL range. With Maximus and his berserk attacks, he can potentially move an entire battlegroup just by going crazy! Barnabas also offers help via his feat, which knocks enemy models down, allowing Max to kill them without losing his Berserk due to Tough.
• Lord Carver's feat lets him go ham on enemy infantry... as long as he hits, and kills, and doesn't leave Carver's control range. The potential for hilarious mass murder is worth the combo though.
• Azazello grants him riposte and has an amazing feat for infantry. Beacon on his gun improves threat ranges for all.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• He needs screening - the enemy will try to shoot him off the board. His defensive stats are good, but he's not invincible.
• No matter how squishy they may be, if an enemy makes a Tough roll, it shuts down the Berserk Train. This makes Trollblood infantry a consistently bad matchup

Tricks & Tips

• All opponents will see the pig with the fellblade and make a concentrated effort to snipe him off the board- take advantage of this and use him as a diversion. Even if he dies, he took the heat off your other models.
• Remember that the berserk is not an optional thing, nor does it stop if you run out of enemy targets. Maximus, like the Doom Reavers he stole the sword from, continue to swing until there's nothing left to swing at, friendly and enemy alike. Keep that in mind when you're moving him into position to attack the opposing infantry; if you kill them all and leave a friendly model in melee range, he *has* to swing at it.
• Remember that Spell Ward prevents him from being targeted by spells; this doesn't mean he can't be hit by them. If he's too close to a blast, he still takes the damage.

Other

Trivia

Released in Hordes: Exigence (2014)