Sphinx

Recently unleashed upon the enemies of the Retribution, House Vyre’s myrmidons were developed with distinct capabilities all their own. The Sphinx rends its enemies with twin force claws or uses its runespear cannon to shatter an enemy’s mystical defenses, making it more vulnerable to magical attacks.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Construct

Weapons

Runespear Cannon
File:Gun icon.jpg		RNG			ROF			AOE			POW			LOCATION
		12			1			Template:-			12			Right
Template:Magical Weapon Template:Psychic Relay
Light Force Claw
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S				LOCATION
		1				4				15				Right
Template:Open Fist
Heavy Force Claw
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S				LOCATION
		2				6				17				Left
Template:Open Fist

Theme Forces

• Template:Defenders of Ios
• Template:Forges of War. In this theme this model gains Shield Guard.
• Template:Legions of Dawn. (1) In this theme this model can ignore friendly Dawnguard models when determining LOS, and it can advance through friendly Dawnguard models if it has enough movement to move completely past them. (2) If someone 'Jack Marshals this model in this theme, it gains Flank [Dawnguard].
• Template:Shadows of the Retribution

Thoughts on the Sphinx

Sphinx in a nutshell

Cheapish, resilient beatstick with an alright gun. It shines alongside spell-casters but is not allowed in forges of war limiting its potential to a handful of models.

With this in mind it is easiest to get mileage out of the Sphinx if you treat it as an expendable melee heavy that happens to have a gun. 2 open fists opens up lots of power attack options and while it needs help to trade vs other heavies it does have a good defensive stat line as with the rest of the chassis.

The 2021 update hasn’t really changed how the Sphinx works you are just more likely to get a shot off with its gun before lines clash.

Combos & Synergies

• Rahn - A spellslinger who uses other spellslingers that go from range ten with most spells to range thirteen! Add that with Rahn's feat. and an extra sphinx or two and you can really bully most of the field with fifteen inch magic pew pews!
• Ravyn has Open Fire allowing it to shoot out of activation. Unfortunately she doesn’t have any spells that benefit from the Sphinx but any other model in her army Elara1, Eilish1 or Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress would benefit.
• Garryth2 he gets almost nothing from psychic relay due to witchmark. But extra shots out of activation from the feat, warpath, pathfinder and mortality are all useful on a slow jack of all trades.
• Vyros1 doesn't mind a couple of them to serve as cheap beaters that can really punch hard on feat turn. He also fixes their SPD issues.
• Sylys Wyshnalyrr - Their range bonuses on spells stack, making for an effective +5".
• Arcantrik Force Generator - A 10" gun is a bit short ranged, the AFG helps with this.
• Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress - shooting Hunters Mark 13” keeps her a bit safer than shooting it 10”, especially in Defenders of ios where she gain Repo 3"
• House Shyeel Artificer - He can marshal it, which might not be a bad idea given the Sphinx is relatively cheap and takes any of the Drives well. Its gun also increases the range of Magno Bolt.
• Helynna - A longer range Hand of Destruction is nifty and her Field Marshal makes spells more accurate, too.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• The Sphinx doesn't hit nearly as hard as a Manticore, or shoot as well as a Daemon. It's an in between kind of jack, but given it is cheaper than both of them that is okay. Your mileage with it is just dictated by your casters kit and list construction.

Tricks & Tips

• Position it for melee, ie for piece trading, rather than positioning it to shoot stuff. The gun is secondary.

Other

Trivia

Released in the Warmachine: Wrath expansion (2011)