View source for Maelok the Dreadbound

{{Minionbox|{{Minion}} {{Gatorman}} [[Warlock]]}} [[Category: Model]]
{{4P|Blindwater Congregation}}

''The gatorman warlock known as Maelok the Dreadbound exists in a torturous state of undeath as an animated corpse bound to the will of another. Despite his decaying physical form, Maelok is still a mighty bokor who can return slain allies to life, steal the souls of the living, or connect to the spirit world to transform his army temporarily into ghostly horrors unimpeded by flesh, stone, or steel.''

=Basic Info=
{{Infobox-Model
| name  = Maelok1
| image = Maelok.jpg
| base  = Medium
| spd   = 5
| str   = 7
| mat   = 6
| rat   irrelevant 
| def   = 14
| arm   = 17
| cmd   irrelevant 
| fury  = 7
| hp    = 17
| wbp   = +28
}}
* '''[[Minion]]''' - In a 2+ warlock game, he can work as a {{Circle minion}}, {{Legion minion}}, {{Skorne minion}}, or {{Trollblood minion}}
* {{Warlock}}
* {{Gatorman Warlock}}

=== Feat: Spirit World ===
# Friendly Faction models currently in Maelok's {{CTRL}} range gain [[incorporeal]] this turn.
# While within Maelok's {{CTRL}} range, friendly Faction [[undead]] models gain +2 ARM.
: Spirit World lasts for one round

===  Abilities ===
* {{Amphibious}}
* {{Undead}}
* {{Field Marshal|Undead}} [[Category: Undead Field Marshal]]
* {{Cull Soul|leeches|fury}}

=== Weapons ===
{| class="wikitable"
{{Melee|Bite|0.5|5|12|
* {{Magical Weapon}}
* {{Spirit Eater}} }}
{{Melee|Claw (x2)|0.5|5|12|
* {{Magical Weapon}} }}
|}

=== Spells ===
{{Spellbox| 
{{Death Pact}}
{{Mortality}}
{{Revive}}
{{Soul Harvester}}
{{Venom}}
}}

===Theme Forces ===
* {{Blindwater}}
* {{Will Work for Food}}


= Thoughts on {{PAGENAME}} =
=== {{PAGENAME}} in a nutshell===
Maelok is a brick caster who excels at running Gators. Death Pact brings the Posse up to ARM 18 (20 in melee), and his feat raises that by two. An army of ARM 22 multi-wound models on feat turn is very very tough for many armies to deal with.

===Feat thoughts===
Maelok's feat is an attrition or assassination feat - turning your entire army incorporal for the turn allows most of it to charge straight through enemy defences and into their caster. (Or just into their back lines). On the other hand +2 ARM for an already tough army is nothing to scoff at. It's probably best used as the lines meet to dig deep and wreck.

===Spell thoughts===
* '''Death Pact''' is a backbone spell Maelok casts almost every turn. +2 ARM for all infantry? Yes please.
* '''Soul Harvester''' is just nice against infantry, allowing Maelok to cast more spells. Like Mortality.
* '''Mortality''' is an excellent debuff for when you need it.
* '''Venom''' is a great magical attack.
* '''Revive''' is probably too expensive unless you've had a soul-bonanza or have somewhere really awkward to put your revived model.

=== Drawbacks & Downsides ===
* Some people don't like playing bricks. Or against them, so you might become the unpopular player in your meta.
* Your battle plan is obvious.
* [[Gatorman Bokor and Bog Trog Swamp Shamblers]] can't collect corpses from friendly models when he makes the whole army undead.
* Most rules that work against Undead also work against Living models, but there are a few instances where turning your models Undead will impact them negatively:
** If they are an Archon or Construct and will thus now be affected by Withering Humor when they weren't before. Which only consistently comes up against Crucible Guard. [[Golab]]’s [[Carrion Feast]] would also effect them as another example.
** In Will Work for Food you lose assess to [[Primal]] from a lesser warlock and Battle Boar, but you have Rage anyway which is a much better animus.

=== Tricks & Tips ===
* If assassinating, see if you can land Mortality. It's your mainline offensive spell and with Offerings to Kossk effectively makes your Gators MAT 10.

=List Building Advice=
===Strategy===
Brick up. He makes Gators ARM 18 (20 vs melee) with eight damage boxes each in theme, and for just over three points a model. Most enemies are going to blunt their blades on models like that. And then he has the assassination to force the enemy to play cautiously.

===Theme Thoughts===
{{Header|[[The Blindwater Congregation]] - Preferred theme}}

* [[Gatorman Posse]] - If you're running an infantry brick this is a good first choice. Take as many units of Gators as you own. That +2 ARM with the 8 wound gators with Snacking makes for a very hard brick to grind through.
* [[Croak Raiders]] - Croaks love Mortality. That said they don't brick.
* [[Bog Trog Ambushers]] - they can just about brick up, but their value actually comes from ambush and helping Maelok maintain scenario presence.

{{Header|[[Will Work for Food]]}}

* [[Kogan the Exile]] - He's already pretty hard to kill, especially if you can get him in a forest. Maelok makes it even harder and typically brings at least one [[Boil Master & Spirit Cauldron]] to fuel him up.
* [[Farrow Valkyries]] - These are the highest ARM unit in the theme. With [[Gang]] they hit a bit harder than [[Gatorman Posse]], but the real advantage is the combination of Maelok's ARM buffs with [[Shield Guard]] and [[Vengeance]].
* [[Void Archon]] - Helps the list hit harder, and Maelok is a solid choice for running a 4 archon list with these and the [[Primal Archon]]. However, the [[Death Archon]] is typically seen as the better choice.
* [[Ledfoot & Tredz]] and [[Pyg Tank]]s - The tanks are already ARM 18 and taking some or all of them gives you a nice shooting presence that is lacking in [[The Blindwater Congregation]]. Ledfoot is also a convenient +2" threat range extender for small and medium based models like [[Kogan the Exile]].

{{Header|Either theme}}

* [[Death Archon]] - In addition to Maelok's ability to buff ARM, Death Archons can skew the list even further with Mortal Fear. It is also an incredible [[Soul Harvester]] target as it is quite capable of mulching infantry giving itself corpses and Maelok souls.
* [[Barnabas0]] - He offers a lot to the list, particularly in [[The Blindwater Congregation]] theme where his [[Henchmen]] ability gives a unit of [[Gatorman Posse]] +1 SPD and +1 MAT. He can also get to ridiculously high ARM levels between [[Battle Host]], [[Blood-Quenched]], Maelok's abilities, and a [[Bullsnapper]]. However, he's often seen with a [[Boneswarm]] or two as they are the only natively undead beast he can take, so they benefit from Maelok's feat and the speed buff from the [[Gatorman Witch Doctor]].
* [[Boil Master & Spirit Cauldron]] - You'll almost certainly want one of these in your list regardless of theme as they help to fuel the [[Death Archon]] and [[Boneswarm]] models. In [[The Blindwater Congregation]] theme, they can also be taken for free. Don't forget that they also provide [[Puppet Master]] to help you land important attacks like [[Mortality]].
* [[Gatorman Witch Doctor]] - Make your undead faster! [[Sacrificial Strike]] is also incredibly potent when you're bringing natively high ARM units for Maelok.
* [[Gatorman Soul Slave]] - Not only does he let you upkeep Soul Harvester for free, but he offers 3+ boosted Mortalities or Venoms per game (assuming the enemy doesn't kill him, and depending on your Mental Force rolls). Excellent fury efficiency if you want to keep fury on Maelok for transfers, Revives, or animus casting. Plus, a cheaper alternative for spell-slinging than the Blind Walker.
* [[Captain Crawtooth]] - And now on top of everything else you have a No KD bubble on your Posse to make them even more obnoxious !
* [[Primal Archon]] - He can make it ARM 23 and Incorporeal, making it almost impossible to take down. Maelok also ups its damage out put with Mortality. They have stiff competition with the [[Death Archon]] in both themes though.
* [[Bone Shrine]] - with 2 spells that cost 3 and 1 upkeep the extra fury is very useful and Maelok is durable enough to not suffer the negative effect that much.
* [[Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew]] - a dirt cheap investment that helps grant concealment and improve the Def of your infantry - if your opponent needs to boost to hit and boost to damage the posse then they likely will not have the volume of attacks needed to do away with the gators before they get into melee
* [[Swamp Gobber River Raider]] - If you have a points gap to fill, these guys are a great inclusion. [[Bane]] is particularly useful as Maelok's lists tend to not hit very hard.
* [[Thrullg]] - With 3 initials and a suite of anti-magic rules, these are great solos to fill out your list. They start at ARM 16, have magical weapons with Arcane Interference, and don't clog up your deployment line so badly with [[Advance Deployment]].

=== Battlegroup===
* [[Blackhide Wrastler]] - You've only got Mortality to buff your damage output, so bringing along the Wrastler for [[Rage]] is a great way to make sure your beasts can get work done.
* [[Boneswarm]] - With access to the [[Boil Master & Spirit Cauldron]] as a req option to hand them corpses, Boneswarms can hit incredibly hard for their point cost now that they have two initials, especially if you have a Wrastler for Rage.
* [[Swamp Horror]] - If you're concerned about having enough corpses to hand out to Boneswarms and don't want the Blindwalker / Bull Snapper package, Swamp Horrors are a great second heavy. They natively threat 11", and you can get that up to 12" with Death Ride from the [[Gatorman Witch Doctor]]. They also hit deceptively hard with [[Mortality]] and [[Rage]].
* [[Blind Walker]] - A spell slinger wants to channel. That's what this beast is for - and Mortality is an excellent spell to arc and Venom isn't bad. This was a questionable pick - but Soul Harvester really makes it worthwhile.
* [[Bull Snapper]] - Potentially free in theme, and with animus on feat turn Maelok soars to "extremely concerning" levels of ARM. Watch out for [[Blessed]] weapons though.

===Starting a 25 point Brawl list===
In 2021.04 Phillip Melvin, one of the LOS authors, put together this list for the [[Brawlmachine]] format. He even wrote about it's playstyle and expanding it beyond 25 points, which you can [https://www.loswarmachine.com/brawlmachine/2021/4/11/brawlmachine-list-building-minions read here].

'''[[Theme - The Blindwater Congregation]]

: '''Maelok the Dreadbound''': [+28 WBP]
:* [[Blackhide Wrastler]]: [16 pts]
:* [[Boneswarm]]: [7 pts]
:* [[Bull Snapper]]: [5 pts]
:* [[Gatorman Soul Slave]]: [Free] {{grey|(5 pts)}}

: [[Gatorman Witch Doctor]]: [4 pts]

: [[Gatorman Posse]] (Max unit): [16 pts]
: [[Boil Master & Spirit Cauldron]]: [5 pts]

Total RRP: USD $210 (based on PP's online store prices 2021.06)

{{Brawl}}

=Other=
===Trivia=== 
Released in [[Hordes: Domination]] (2011)

===Warbeasts he can take===
{{Index Gatorman Warbeasts}}

===Video Battle Reports===
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgFpw23O9Qg 2019.11 Desperate Pace], vs [[Anamag1]]
* [https://youtu.be/aQYeOsUkBs0 2018.09 Arcane Assist], vs [[Xerxis1]]
* [https://youtu.be/Hnw8oN3ABkQ 2018.08 Deathclock Dave], vs [[Gorten1]]
* [https://youtu.be/uFlQUKVTI50 2018.05 Advanced Maneuvers], vs [[Kaelyssa1]].
* [https://youtu.be/KaWcGjl59Kc 2018.04 Not Snakes Gaming], vs [[Haley3]]
* [https://youtu.be/pm6mRJ6giDg 2018.03 Advanced Maneuvers], vs [[Mohsar1]].
* {{VBR}}

===Other Minion models===
{{Index Minions}}

===Rules Clarifications===
{{RC Magical Weapon}}
{{RC Spirit Eater}}

{{RC Warlock}}
{{RC Gatorman Warlock}}
{{RC Amphibious}}
{{RC Undead}}
{{RC Field Marshal}}
{{RC Cull Soul}}

{{RC Death Pact}}
{{RC Mortality}}
{{RC Revive}}
{{RC Soul Harvester}}
{{RC Venom}}