Baron Tonguelick, Lord of Warts

In folklore, Baron Tonguelick was said to have been a deranged and petty tyrant. The dubious nobility of Tonguelick notwithstanding, the self-appointed Lord of Warts has ingratiated himself with the Defiers. By their favor, he lords it over lesser grymkin, who must beware the lash of his tongue. He can bolster the reality-warping power of the Defiers or serve as a direct conduit for their magic. The barons tongue is dangerous whether employed as a weapon to catch and consume prey, or when he croaks words that leave weaker-willed enemies confounded and confused.

Basic Info

• Template:Attached

Abilities

• Template:Amphibious
• Template:Arcane Support
• Template:Jump
• Template:Magic Ability

Weapons

• Tongue Lash - 3" reach, POW 4, P+S 10 melee attack
  • Template:Consume
  • Template:Pull

Spells

{{Category: Template:Parlay spellTemplate:Spell SlaveTemplate:Swamp Gas }}[[Category: Template:Parlay spellTemplate:Spell SlaveTemplate:Swamp Gas ]]

Theme Forces

• Template:Bump in the Night. He gains Rise in this theme.
• Template:Dark Menagerie

Thoughts on the Baron Tonguelick, Lord of Warts

Baron Tonguelick, Lord of Warts in a nutshell

Baron Tonguelick is Grymkin's warlock attachment. He does what any good warlock attachment does, Arcane Assist for an extra fury each turn, and Spell Slave for another couple fury's worth of damage. However Tonguelick is also uniquely a not-demon frog, with the ability to Jump forward and nab pesky solos or UAs with his tongue. Finally, he's also a dapper gentlemen and is capable of Parlaying with the enemy on behalf of his warlock. The end result is an above average solo hunter who makes Grymkin's above average supply of fury even more above average. What's not to like?

Combos & Synergies

• Extra fury is often the best reason to bring a warlock attachment, and Tonguelick is no exception. However Grymkin's above average FURY stats mean that this role is often not enough, with that extra fury rarely being as critical as it would be in other factions (compare Tonguelick to a Gatorman Soul Slave for example).
• Tonguelick is really a solo hunter with a couple of nice utility abilities. His ability to pick out and assassinate dangerous small bases while ignoring their ARM is exceptional in certain matchups (notably into Exemplar Interdiction). Consume is a reliable remove-from-play effect which works against non-Living, which also makes it very relevant into themes with recurrable non-Living troops (Exalted, Clockwork Legions). An often surprising and swinging play is to Jump Tonguelick forward, then pull the UA of a medium-base Shield Wall unit out of position.
• Parlay is the utility ability which makes Tonguelick so good in Grymkin. With the exception of the Dreamer and Old Witch3, Grymkin warlocks want to get within 8" of the enemy. This is well within the opponent's melee range, which leaves your warlock exposed. Parlay neatly solves this problem.

Warlocks

• The Heretic is one of two Grymkin warlocks who wants to spend the final two turns of the game charging down & killing enemy models. This means he wants to get very close to the enemy, and will always benefit from Parlay if played appropriately aggressively. He's also one of the more fury-strapped of the Grymkin casters, as even with 7 to spend he can often spend his entire stack. The free upkeep is very welcome to make Fury only cost 2, while Hex Blast & Gallows are both fantastic nukes to have on a highly mobile Spell Slaver. Note that Baron Tonguelick cannot cast any spells the Heretic steals with Godlike Power, since Spell Slave specifies "on its warlock's card".
• The Child is the other Grymkin warlock who wants to beat down the last dregs of her opponent's army. She's also notably a large base, which means Tonguelick can neatly slot in behind her to provide Parlay. Abuse is a very good spell which the Child can normally only cast three times in a turn. With Tonguelick, that goes to four, making 4-Clockatrice Child lists very strong at the moment (as of 2020.02). Tantrum & Discord are both solid upkeeps which an unattached Child will often drop in favour of additional Abuses. With Tonguelick, she doesn't need to make that decision.
• The Wanderer perhaps benefits the least from Tonguelick's suite of abilities. He has little in the way of personal output, and a unique mechanic which makes dodging melee attacks already extremely easy. He only has the one ukpeep, and a limited spell list which trivializes the decision of whether to keep that spell after turn 1. The real value of Tonguelick with Wanderer comes in how the two work together against a specific type of enemy lists. Namely, those with lots of high-ARM, high-POW troops with minimal boosting abilities outside of feats (Exemplar Interdiction, Exalted, new Clockwork Legions).
• Zevanna Agha, the Fate Keeper is a massive spellcaster who wants as much fury as she can get her hands on. Tonguelick is a natural complement, who also critically provides immunity to melee attacks for a huge base model. It cannot be understated how dumb of an interaction this is. Dumb as in, "how dumb-founded your opponent will be when he tries to engage Zevanna Agha". The only spell Tonguelick can Spell Slave is Boundless Charge, but there is a very, very short list of scenarios where you won't want to be casting that at least once per turn (presumably on Old Witch's attendant Cage Rager). An additional cloud is always nice in conjunction with Windstorm, making the delivery of squishy-but-hard-hitting Grymkin troops (Neigh Slayers, Dread Rots) all but certain.

Other models

• The Cage Rager provides Tonguelick with protecting from magic, as well as a big body behind which to hide. Tonguelick in turn provides a Spell Slave, which for the Child and Old Witch3 means improvements to the Cage Rager's below average speed. The two together also lets you cast two spells away from your caster instead of just one, at much, much lower cost than bringing two Cage Ragers.
• Crabbits are almost essential with Tonguelick. He's a very scary model at close range, but doesn't have the defensive profile to really take a shot. Combine this with abilities which force the opponent to target him, and it's almost always worth it to keep at least one Crabbit with Tonguelick all game.
• Skin & Moans has a reliable RFP against Living models. Tonguelick has a reliable RFP against non-Living small-base models. The two can work together to deal with dangerous front line troops as well, with Tonguelick's Pull dragging target enemies into the Skin & Moans terrifying threat. A particularly great play is when Tonguelick can Pull an enemy into melee range of the Skin & Moans before it moves, letting it make use of the attack part of its animus.
• Gorehounds really like to be around Tonguelick, since he is a reliable source of concealment with which to activate their Prowl and provide Stealth. Watch out for ranged attacks which would kill Tonguelick!
• The Death Knell & Grave Ghouls provide obvious defensive buffs to Tonguelick. He can also Pull enemies into collection range of these corpse-carriers, outside of their activation. This notably can let the Death Knell fuel up a Skin & Moans before itself moving, while also keeping up its defensive aura.
  • Note that if Tonguelick consumes his target, it does not generate a corpse for a nearby collector.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Grymkin has access to very good free choices in both of its themes. You will often be forced to pay the 4 points for this model, don't assume a requisition slot like in other factions.
  • In Dark Menagerie, Tonguelick must compete with a pair of Gremlin Swarms, a pair of Crabbits, or Kariana Rose.
  • In Bump in the Night, Tonguelick must compete with a Malady Man, Lord Longfellow, a Grave Ghoul, or one of several excellent unit attachments.
• Parlay works in a 6" bubble around Tonguelick. This means he has to be within range of the enemy landing spots around his warlock. It's often easier as a result for the enemy to simply kill Tonguelick first, then engage your warlock.
  • Keep Tonguelick behind your warlock and this is no longer an issue. Just watch out for shooting!
  • Old Witch3's huge base makes staying behind while providing Parlay impossible. Use an attendant heavy or screening troops to protect Tonguelick, while Tonguelick protects Old Witch.
• Swamp Gas "remains centred on this model". This means that push or pull effects will also pull the cloud around Tonguelick. This can both catch opponents off guard, as they plant their own troops into a cloud which lowers their accuracy, as well as ruin your cloud wall. Be careful what models you place near Tonguelick which rely on his Swamp Gas for concealment (notably Gorehounds with Prowl).
  • Tonguelick's cloud also disappears if he is killed. Same as with Parlay, it is often better for your opponent to just kill Tonguelick first.
• Tonguelick is only Magic Ability [6] while most of Grymkin's warlocks are FURY 7. If you really need a spell to land on an opponent, it is better to have your caster cast it than trying to Spell Slave it through Tonguelick.
  • The Heretic's Gallows is probably the best example of this, and is a big reason to bring a Cage Rager which runs to stay apace with Tonguelick.

Tricks & Tips

• The Hermit has the annoying Ancient Shroud rule, meaning that you'll have to sacrifice 5 attacks (or 6 with Mad Visions) to put him down, plus chances are that Dark Prophecy will shut down some of your warbests for a round. Fortunately, none of these will trigger on Tonguelick's Consume attack - just hit his meagre DEF11 and it's gone for good. Your frog's 13" threat is also superior to his 10" run or Word of Ruin bubble.
• Despite not being a Magical Weapon, Consume can remove Incorporeal models in their incorporeal form as well - provided you can hit them with your meagre MAT5.

Other

Trivia

Released at Adepticon (2019.03)