Nayl

Nayl is one of the soulless, destined to stand forever apart from his people, an uncomfortable reminder of the doom awaiting Scyrah and all of Ios. At rest Nayl seems empty, yet a blade in his hand moves with a will of its own, expressing echoes of emotions. Nayl’s trainers prepared him from youth to serve as an arcane vortex when he at last perishes, striking against the Retribution’s enemies even as death consumes him.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Advance Deployment
• Template:Soulless
• Template:Stealth
• Template:Arcane Annihilation
• Template:Spell Ward

Weapons

• Two-Handed Sword - 1" reach, P+S 13 melee weapon.
  • Template:Blessed
  • Template:Magical Damage

Theme Forces

• Template:Shadows of the Retribution. Nayl gains "optional Take Down" in this theme.

Thoughts on Nayl

Nayl in a nutshell

The dream with Nayl is to jam him deep into the back lines of an army, messing up order of activation and killing off support. When they finally do kill him (either from a free strike or because they need him dead before he kills something important) he blows up and interferes with the operation of warcasters, 'locks, 'jacks, and beasts for another round. Unfortunately, this scenario contains way too much ifs and whens for most of us. It's a generally held belief that any model in Warmachine would be considered a good deal if the points cost were low enough ... this doesn't apply to Nayl. Even if you can get him for free, sometimes you feel like your opponent should have paid points for him.

Combos & Synergies

If there's any model in the Warmachine/Hordes system, who doesn't warrant any kind of direct support, and stands "as is", then it is Nayl. Run him up on a flank, and hope he can catch the caster before biting the dust.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• He can be as much of a boon for the enemy as he is for you. A clever Throw or Slam can have him explode in your lines, instead of the enemy lines.
  • This is especially devastating if he is thrown at your caster.
  • Watch out for Gargossals, their superior STR allows long range Throws, while the Power Strike's slam distance is D6+2". They also have an above-average melee range for those attacks.
  • Enemies with Grand Slam can also slam him farther.
• A Hordes player might run all their beasts at max fury, then explode Nayl to get rid of the excess (assuming they don't mind being shut out of animi and no forcing for a round).
• He has only a single attack, so apart of squishy casters, it may be possible to ignore him for a turn or two without consequence, allowing your opponent to set up a situation where it is beneficial for them.
• He specifically needs an enemy attack to be destroyed. Continuous effect is not an attack, as well as collateral damage, or damage caused by feats without specifically mentioning as an attack (Old Witch, Harbinger of Menoth, Sturgis, etc.). Electro Leap and Trick Shot's secondary damage also won't trigger him. Also, if something RFPs him, he won't explode.

Tricks & Tips

• Stay away from your own caster. Like, way, way over there.

Other

Trivia

• Released in Forces of Warmachine: Retribution of Scyrah (November 2009)
• He's far too suave to need silly titles like Narn, Mage Hunter of Ios; or Elara, Tyro of the 3rd Chamber. He's Nayl ... just Nayl.