Morrowan Battle Priest

File:Mercenary Logo.jpg File:Cygnar Logo.jpg

Template:FH2

The Order of Illumination relies on an arsenal of blessed weapons and holy wards, the preservation and upkeep of which falls to Morrowan battle priests. Soldiers of the Order are glad to be joined by such priests, who support them in battle with prayers and shield them from enemy magic. Battle priests are so focused on their sacred duties that they may appear ragged and disheveled, with no concern for superficial appearances. They are quite willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice to safeguard the faithful warriors with whom they serve.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Tough
• Template:Granted (Template:Rise-alt)
• Template:Sacred Ward
• Template:Shield Guard
• Template:Spell Breaker

Weapons

Sword (x2)
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S
		1				5				11
Template:Blessed Template:Magical Damage

Theme Forces

• Mercenary, Khador, or Cygnar
  • Template:Flame in the Darkness.
    • The Battle Priest and its unit gain Vengeance in this theme.
    • Their Faction type will change to match the warcaster's Faction.
    • If your caster is Mercenary or Khador, the Priest can only attach to a Morrowan unit.
    • If your caster is Cygnar, the Priest can attach to any unit in the theme.

• Mercenary
  • It can be included in any Mercenary theme that allows a Morrowan Mercenary unit. Note that there are some Mercenary themes that allow Cygnar units but transform them into Mercenary units (such as Llaelese Resistance) - the Battle Priest can't attach to those ex-Cygnar units.
  • Template:Operating Theatre. (But only if you attach the Priest and a Cephalyx Dominator to a Mercenary Morrowan unit)
  • Template:The Irregulars. This model can be added to Precursor Knights in this theme.

• Cygnar
  • Its status as both a unit attachment and as a Partisan is a bit of a unique case. The end result is: it can go in any Cygnar theme that allows any kind of Cygnar unit (ie all of them), you can take as many Priests as you like, and they never count against your "Up to one Mercenary unit/solo" allowance.
  • Template:Gravediggers
  • Template:Heavy Metal
  • Template:Sons of the Tempest
  • Template:Storm Division. The Battle Priest gains Immunity: Electricity in this theme.

• Other Factions
  • As a mercenary attachment, it can also be taken in a bunch of other Faction's theme forces - as long as it is attached to a Mercenary Morrowan unit that works for that other Faction. Refer to #Other Theme Forces.

Thoughts on Morrowan Battle Priest

Morrowan Battle Priest in a nutshell

An absolute steal at 2 points a piece, they are essentially ablative Shield Guards that you can add to any small or medium based Morrowan or Cygnar unit. They grant the unit Rise, which combos well with anything Tough. Other than that their stats aren't all that amazing, neither is the weaker version of Dispel they have, but this and their low cost means you don't care if they die. Given that Flames grants Vengeance to all it units, they become extremely powerful, as they are able to forcefully trigger it for their respective unit.

Combos & Synergies

• Blaize - Naturally, as she works well with anything Morrowan.
• Gallant - Naturally, as he accumulates off of them.
• Precursor Knights - Probably the best Unit for them, as they are also affected by Practiced Maneuvers, the Mini feat and shield wall. Also being shield guards, they make sure the rest of the unit is delivered by triggering Vengeance granted by the Flames theme. If only they were Tough, they would be the complete package.
• Given that Rise will seldom be relevant otherwise, it's a really good idea to supply their attached unit with a source of Tough (if they aren't already); Rhupert's and Gabriel Throne's Heroic Calls, as well as Maddox's and Crosse's Dauntless Resolve deliver on this. In Flames you can then enjoy a Tough/Rise/Vengeance Combo.
• Legion of Lost Souls - Interestingly enough, WAs can be brought back by Blood-Bound. So yeah, recurrable 2 point Shield Guards are extremely strong and the Legion want to benefit from forcibly triggered Vengeance as much as any unit.
• As they will likely die once they Shield Guarded anything, they can provide tokens to Alexia1 and Alexia2 easily. If Blood Bound is a factor in your list, you can do it over and over again, too.
• Alexia, The Undying - Passive Necromancy turns any priest that dies into a Thrall, while her leadership turns thralls into Shield Guards themselves, so you can theoretically Shield Guard twice in the same turn with the "same" model. Just note that you can't blood-bound priests that you turned into Thralls back as Passive Necromancy RFPs.
• Field Mechaniks - Why ever the Gobbers, who worship Dhunia, care for the presence of a priest to a human god is unknown, but they are the cheapest way to bring priests into any Cygnar Army, so who cares?
• The Devil's Shadow Mutineers - This is a Flames in the Darkness (Cygnar) only combo, but it's extremely fun jank; as they become Cygnar units in this theme, you can attach Priests to them and bring them back with the aforementioned Blood-Bound.
• Stormguard and Silver Line Stormguard love Rise, but keep in mind that Priests can give Silverline members the benefit for Polarity Wall, but can still be charged themselves. For Stormguard they are a nice wall of Steel buddies, however. If they are positioned correctly with Silverline Stormguard, you can preserve their Polarity Wall much longer - this is especially helpful against ranged attacks with rules that inflict a point or more of damage which would circumvent their armour.
• The Stormblade Infantry leader's Tactics: Relentless Charge and Iron Zeal, as well as the Trencher Commandos CA minifeat can affect them.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• It can't be attached to ex-Cygnar units in the Llaelese Resistance or Kingmaker's.
• The model has a high $ cost. Retail price is US$16 per model. You only get 1 model per pack. This is because the rules prior to CID intended the priest to be primarily useful as a single model attachment like the Patrol Dog. The shield guard rule addition significantly changed how it fit in to an army.

Tricks & Tips

• Activate the Battle Priest first in melee versus units with upkeeps on them.

Other

Trivia

File:Morrowan Battle Priest alt.jpg

WTC 2019 limited edition sculpt.

File:MiniCrate8 VIP MorrowanPriestess.jpg

Morrowan Battle Priestess; Minicrate VIP Exclusive.

• Released 2019.07
• Template:LES

Other Theme Forces

The non-Mercenary, non-Cygnar theme forces it can be taken are governed by which Mercenary unit you want to attach it to. At the time of writing (2019.04), it can be taken in: