Captain Aiakos

A merciless cutthroat of the high seas, Aiakos has risen from humble beginnings among the gangs of Blackwater to become one of the fiercest captains in Cryx’s pirate fleet. The warcaster rushes to the forefront of every engagement, bounding from ship to ship to skewer his opponents with harpoon and blade. Wherever the promise of a bloody battle arises, Aiakos and his crew are not far behind.

Basic Info

Warcaster abilities:

• Focus Manipulation

• Battlegroup Controller

• Power Field

• Spellcaster

• Independent Model

• Leader

Feat: Boarding Action

Models in Aiakos battlegroup that are currently in his Template:CTRL range gain +3 SPD and Assault. Boarding Action lasts for one turn.

Abilities

• Template:Tough
• Template:Leap

Weapons

Harpoon
File:Gun icon.jpg		RNG			ROF			AOE			POW
		10			1			Template:-			12
Template:Magical Weapon Template:Aim for the Shoulder Template:Drag
Reaver
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S
		1				7				13
Template:Magical weapon Template:Blood Boon Template:Grievous Wounds

Spells

{{Category:

}}[[Category:

]]

[[:Category:{{{name}}}|{{{name}}}]]	Cost	RNG	AOE	POW	DUR	OFF
	2	6	-	-	Upkeep	No
Target friendly Faction warjack can charge or make slam or trample power attacks without spending focus. The warjack gains +2 SPD when it charges or makes a slam or trample power attack. Models slammed by the warjack are moved +2".
No errata for {{{name}}} ([[:Category:Errata-{{{name}}}|Create]])
[[:Category:{{{name}}}|{{{name}}}]]	Cost	RNG	AOE	POW	DUR	OFF
	2	6	-	-	Upkeep	No
Target friendly Faction warjack can charge or make slam or trample power attacks without spending focus. The warjack gains +2 SPD when it charges or makes a slam or trample power attack. Models slammed by the warjack are moved +2".
No errata for {{{name}}} ([[:Category:Errata-{{{name}}}|Create]])

Theme Forces

• Template:Black Industries
• Template:Dark Host
• Template:The Ghost Fleet
• Template:Scourge of the Broken Coast

Thoughts on Aiakos2

Aiakos2 in a nutshell

Captain Aiakos is a potent melee assassination warcaster. Walk, leap, harpoon, drag, stab stab stab dead then a potential spellcast. 21" threat range (+d6" with a clever arc node + White Squall).

He has a great spell list but suffers from not having enough focus to do everything he wants to do - so he really needs to be leveraging Blood Boon for the free spell. Hopefully the enemy has left something easy to kill within 16" of Aiakos position and forgotten to block the Drag lane - this lets Aiakos walk, shoot his harpoon, get Blood Boon, then Leap back to a safer position.

His feat is fairly weak - if you try to leverage the Assault by taking lots of shooting 'jacks you'll quickly find that a) Cryx jacks are not good at shooting and b) Aiakos does not have enough focus to support a lot of 'jacks. The +3 SPD is decent, though.

Spell thoughts

He has a good spell list that lets him support his army in a variety of ways.

• Assail is a movement and power buff for a single 'jack, and really lets you turn it up to 11, especially on feat turn. It wants to be cast on an elite warjack, and maybe cycled to a 2nd 'jack mid-turn.
  • For instance, Deathjack can charge 14" on feat turn and still have 5 focus.

• Carnage is your MAT-fixer. On most casters it's useful, on Aiakos it's a backbone spell because the Cryxians have so many MAT 5 troops and the difference between MAT 5 and MAT 7 is stunning.

• Scything Touch is your ARM-fixer. You'll want a fast solo with 1" or 2" reach that can take this spell and run into the enemy lines to spread the debuff.

• Stranglehold is a 'soft control' spell to be used against high-value models (such as enemy heavies, battle engines, or combat Archons). Unfortunately those sorts of target tend to have high ARM so you'll normally need to boost damage, but if/when you get the spell to land it you will greatly reduce the effectiveness of that enemy.

• White Squall is expensive but very useful. It can knockdown targets, move them closer to your lines (if you run an arc node behind them), or move them further away.

Usually Aiakos will not be casting Stranglehold or White Squall himself (as he doesn't have the focus to spare) but a Spell Slave and/or the Deathjack can make good use of these spells. Sometimes Aiakos will cast them via an arc node, but doing so will not leave him camping much so it'll put Aiakos in danger of being assassinated himself.

Feat thoughts

His feat is a great little SPD buff to help you get the alpha strike, but the Assault portion is not viewed favorably by many Cryx players (as mentioned in the Nutshell above).

• Important: It doesn't quite stack with Drag to let you get super long threat ranges, because whether your charge is successful or not is determined before you take the Assault shot. Instead a 'failed charge; would go:
  • Make charge movement. If the target is out of melee range the charge is unsuccessful.
  • Before ending your activation you get to make the Assault shot. That will let you trigger Drag and get the free melee attack from Drag ... but then that's it. Also, the free Drag attack is not considered a charge attack (see Infernal Rulings).
  • End activation without getting your charge attack and/or any bought attacks.
• Conversely if you make a successful charge then you'll get the Assault Drag shot, move them via Drag, get the free Drag melee attack, and get your normal melee attack(s). But the Drag movement is kinda irrelevant in this case.

• That said, feat + Drag does let a Reaper or Malice Drag something 20" away (SPD 9 +3" charge +8" gun range) and leaves it 8" closer to the rest of your army.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Drag sounds good until you consider stealth, Shield Guard, Sacrificial Pawn, stuff that can’t be moved, walls/terrain/other models ... it’s a long list.
• Aiakos is probably the most focus-hungry caster in all Cryx. He has many great spells, including two very powerful offensive spells, but he's only FOC 6.
• At first glance he looks like he wants several 'jacks (due to his feat and Assail), but really he doesn't have enough focus to fuel them.
• He's somewhat easy to assassinate. He often won't camp much, he has no defensive tech (other than Tough), and average DEF/ARM for a caster.
• You can't use Aiakos1 with him.
• RAT 5 limits his assassination's likelihood of working; it's something the enemy can't afford to ignore, but even on boosted to-hit rolls you're going to miss more than you'd like.

Tricks & Tips

The "Waverunner" Trick:

Total threat range = 21" to 26"

One ranged attack, one melee attack

Requires an Arc Node

1. Run an arc node directly behind your small-based target
2. Feat to gain +3 SPD
3. Walk (9") then jump (5")
4. Cast White Squall through the arc node, throwing the target (d6") towards Aiakos.
5. Use initial ranged attack to Harpoon the knocked-down target (6")
6. Take free Drag melee attack
7. Template:Grey
8. Three focus left to buy/boost attacks.

The "Flying Dutchman" Trick:

Total threat range = 13"

One ranged attack, two melee attacks (one of which gets boosted damage)

No Arc Node

1. Template:Grey
2. Feat to gain +3 SPD and Assault.
3. Charge a small-based target (12" charge +1" reach).
4. Cast White Squall to throw target d6" away and knock target down.
5. Use Assault ranged attack to Harpoon the target and drag it back into B2B.
6. Take free Drag melee attack.
7. Take melee charge attack (boosted damage because you charged).
8. Three focus left to buy/boost attacks.

List Building Advice

Strategy

His main method of winning is to control the enemy with a threat of a scary assassination, and win by attrition while the enemy caster cowers.

His army likes to include support models that help his spell-casting and/or focus efficiency.

Theme thoughts

BI brings a lot of things Aiakos2 wants to see. Deathjack, the Withershadow Combine, Warwitch sirens are all available. Mechanithralls love the Carnage he brings and Brute Thralls can protect Aiakos2 as well.

• The Withershadow Combine are also a great choice. Free upkeep, Puppet Masters to make Stranglehold more reliable, and a free White Squall are all great abilities that will help Aiakos2 a lot. With him, they are definitely superiour to the Skallock Thrall and Dr. Stygius.
• Warwitch Siren is a reliable, but costly way to fuel his jacks, they don't really do much other than support, but Aiakos needs the focus. In a pinch, he can also put Scything Touch on her and she runs 14" to apply it where needed, in Scourge she even procs Gang Fighter for jacks this way.
• Mechanithralls - The difference between MAT 5 and MAT 7 is massive. Mechanithralls and Brute Thralls in particular, under Aikos, get almost as much work done as under Skarre1; even against heavies reliably hitting POW 13s are excellent.
• Deathjack is a fantastic toolbox under Aiakos2. He will be able to cast powerful White Squalls or Strangleholds better than Aiakos himself due to Magic Ability[7]. He can threaten 15" under feat and Assail and/or hit MAT10 POW20 with Carnage and Scything Touch.
• Malice - for the same reason you may bring a reaper, except she is less focus hungry when given access to souls.
• Barathrum - The best jack in faction, and with Assail/Sycthing Touch and the speed boost from the feat it gets even better. With the feat, you can make a 9" Drag Below move, which is really nifty.
• Scrap Thrall - White Squall one in the back and throw it into enemy lines, where it will explode. This can really catch opponents off guard.
• Necrotech - The repair of your jacks and turn fallen jacks into Scrap Thralls, keeping you in scenario. They are an absolute steal for 1 point each.

This theme has less spell casting support, but you get access to the Satyxis Blood Priestess and Misery Cage. The troops in Scourge form a great self-sufficient core, although the troops lack hitting power and all Aiakos brings is Scything Touch (which might not be enough). Bloodgorgers love Carnage, and all Crabjacks will love Gang Fighter from the theme. Kharybdiss is a monster assassin in this theme.

• Misery Cage will give him one more focus to toss per round, as long as you can fuel and protect them.
• The Satyxis Blood Priestess brings a free upkeep, can cast two great spells, and will help protect from ranged assassinations a caster with poor stats and a tendency to use a lot of focus.
• Bloodgorgers (with Gerlak Slaughterborn) MAT 9, Berserk, Overtake, and two attacks each. I'm sure there was some infantry 'round here somewhere?
• Satyxis Raiders - Satyxis Raiders don't need Carnage but will appreciate the damage boost from Scything Touch.

The Banes will love his Carnage, but he otherwise doesn't do much to deliver them. This theme also limits your spell-support to just the Skarlock Thrall, which is also the worst spell-support option for Aiakos2.

• Bane Warriors and Bane Knights on the other need will love Carnage to help their average MAT

GF usually plays with the minimum amount of jacks, no caster support, and infantry that needs a lot of help (delivery, damage increase). Probably not the best choice for Aiakos2.

• Misery Cage, mentioned above, can also be in this theme.

• Black Ogrun Iron Mongers - Curse is a to-hit buff for his jacks, which includes DJs spell-slinging if you bring him (and you should). Dismantle also makes them a threat to any constructs, and repairs a never not nice to have.
• Hermit of Hengehold - An extra ARM debuff is never a bad thing for a caster that wants to kill as fast as possible. Telemetry on the other hand pushes Aikaos's effective focus stat for spell-slinging to acceptable levels and makes DJ and Maelovus very accurate (DJ can even double stack Telemetry and Curse for M.A. 11). Lastly, Mad Visions is a gift of Toruk himself for a caster that wants to play forward in order to project assassination vectors.

Battlegroup

File:Kharybdis.jpg

Kharybdis is Aiakos' pet warjack that he can take in any theme.

He likes amphibious warjacks. Carnage makes them shine, they synergize with his feat with their guns, and they have Pathfinder. He'll often squeeze in an arc node just for White Squall shenanigans, and he is one of the few casters that might want to spend the points on upgrading the node to a Nightwretch or Defiler for the feat combo.

• Kharybdis is his pet warjack, that he can take in any theme.
  • With Assail it threatens 14" outside of feat turn, and on feat it has a 17" threat with a pretty groovy spray.
  • Having a 4" melee range makes it a valid assasination warjack, as it becomes much harder to block its landing spots. MAT 9 under Carnage and Chain Weapons can be clutch to ignore Shields.

• Kraken is effectively a bigger version of Kharybdis. One neat piece of tech is, on feat turn, it can get 2 ranged attacks (once from Assault, and once from Kill Shot).

• Harrower - good gun, can potentially generate its own focus from souls, has Thresher, and has 2" reach. It'll love both the SPD buff and the MAT buff that Aiakos can provide.
• Desecrator - similar to the Harrower, and if you're using the Dark Host theme it will even generate its own bonus focus.

• Reaper or Malice - The Drag + Feat combo can be useful.

Other

Trivia

Released 2016.08

Video Battle Reports

• 2019.03 Feat Fetish, vs Issyria1
• Template:VBR

Rules Clarifications

Template:RC Magical Weapon Template:RC Aim for the Shoulder Template:RC Drag }} Template:RC Blood Boon Template:RC Grievous Wounds }}