Archangel

Everblight still dreams of the time when he took to wing and spread death like a god; now his longing has been made manifest in the archangel. His most perfect spawn, the archangel courses through the sky and unleashes gouts of flame to spread across the earth. It scorches the enemies of its master, coming to ground only to feast upon those who would defy him. Where the archangel goes, so goes Everblight’s legion—and with it, the future Everblight envisions.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Eyeless Sight
• Template:Flight
• Template:Pathfinder
• Template:Soulless
• Template:Deceptively Mobile
• Template:Flying High

Weapons

Dragon Breath
File:Gun icon.jpg		RNG			ROF			AOE			POW
		12			3			3			14
Template:Fire Damage Template:Continuous Fire
Bite
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S
		2				7				21
Template:Consume
Claws (x2)
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S
		2				3				17
Template:Open Fist

Animus

{{Category: Template:Draconic Aura }}[[Category: Template:Draconic Aura ]]

Theme Forces

• Template:Children of the Dragon
• Template:Oracles of Annihilation
• Template:Primal Terrors
• Template:Ravens of War

Thoughts on Archangel

Archangel in a nutshell

If you read the fluff blurb, it perfectly encapsulates the Archangel's essence: it is a fast-moving gunship that breathes fiery death all over the map and once the immediate threats are gone, it swoops in to get up close and personal.

The Archangel is the fastest among the Gargantuans/Colossi in the game - tied only with the Storm Raptor who is the electricity-focused version of it. Thanks to Flying High it does not jam your battlelines the same way other huge-based models do and more importantly, it keeps its frail form safe from most of the enemy guns. Deceptively Mobile is also a unique rule that you may want to use every turn since currently, it's the only way to move a gargantuan outside its normal movement.

All that nimbleness comes with a price though - and that is durability. The Archangel is the most fragile among its peers, to such degree that sometimes even a single fully loaded and buffed heavy can one-round it. This is why you want to control with the above-mentioned extra move who can retaliate against the Archangel once it made the strafing run with its formidable gun.

The Archangel rewards patient, grindy play and may feel counter-intuitive if you got used to all-in alpha strikes. It can certainly do that too, but it's a much riskier play considering the point costs associated with committing such an expensive model early into the game. If you play the Archangel this way, make sure you kill enough to make it worth your while, or you'll have a very sad, very dead dragon. On the bright side, its P+S 21 bite is the strongest Gargantuan attack you can get by default (though many can match and even surpass it with buffs), enabling you credible melee threat once lines close in.

Combos & Synergies

As a centerpiece model with a self-supporting damage buff, the Archangel makes a solid addition to any warlock's list and even more so if they can further amp its hitting power.

'Non-warlock synergy'

• Nephilim Bloodseer - The range of the Archangel's animus is notably smaller than the range of its gun. If you want to avoid exposing it too much, consider the Bloodseer as a remote animus relay. It may also help your other Fire-based attacks (even more so since it works on non-friendly faction models' attacks too).
• Blight Archon - Dragon's Blood is a great ARM buff if you need extra protection for your Archangel. Impending doom can set up clusters of enemies for your AoEs and it can also efficiently manage the support beasts you might take.
• Thagrosh0 - He is one of the best options to run an AA thanks to Ethrubnal's Guidance giving it re-rolls on missed attack rolls. He is one of the toughest lesser warlocks in the game, so he should be quite safe hidden behind a huge base so it's unlikely that the Angel goes wild if he dies.
• Some Fury management is strongly advised in the form of a posse of Shepherds or a Forsaken; unless it's your only warbeast or you outsourced the support beasts under the Blight Archon.
• Croak Raiders can oil up a bunch of enemy models, making the Archangel's gun incredibly efficient on damage, freeing up fury to boost to hit. In corner cases, they make its animus potentially deadly, though their point cost prevents them from being auto-includes.
• Naga Nightlurker - It would be a real shame if you could not shoot those Protectorate jacks right next to a Menite Archon because of Hymn of Passage... thankfully the Naga provides you with a way to do just that.
• A Blighted Nyss Sorceress can help save him fury. If you bring other flyers along her stock continues to rise. The same goes with the Mekanoshredder - it's fully up to your personal preference.
• Blackfrost Shard - Damage and accuracy fix all at once. Unbinding helps if a nasty upkeep had been placed on your dragon.
• Hermit - ARM de-buff, plus he may help you to home in blasts thanks to his low DEF and Ancient Shroud by standing close to an otherwise non-targetable enemy.

'Warlocks'

• Kryssa - She loves the Archangel's animus, even more so with the combination of Primal Magic and Telemetry from the Bloodseer. With it she packs a really, really good spray. Additionally her feat and Ignite gives it the usual +5 damage swing to its melee attacks, making the Archangel fully capable of trading with other colossi and gargantuans. Draconic Aura also ensures that whatever was touched by your units' melee attacks during feat will get a POW14 fire damage roll if they happen to survive.

• Bethayne1 - 2 spells, Blood Thorn and Disintegration provide awesome damage boosts while Deceleration helps it not get shot to pieces on the way in. Hex Blast can also be crucial in stripping enemy defensive buffs.

• Bethayne2 - The other contender for best Archangel caster; her feat makes it pretty much flat out unkillable for one turn and Transmutation gives it a very good statline, while Withering Death can debuff choice targets for the Angel (note that putting Transmutation on something else and Dissolve on the AA is also a valid move.) She can also heal it with Psycho Surgery and it is also a very valid Spell Driver target.
  • She especially likes the Archangel in Ravens of War for free Harriers since they both serve as accuracy fixers and Spell Drivers.

• Lylyth1 - RAT6 and MAT6 are not outstanding stats - Lylyth1's feat can help that immensely. Also, Parasite allows you a respectable +5 damage swing with the Draconic Aura on a crucial target.

• Absylonia1's feat gets the most out of an Archangel if it has taken a lot of hits on the way in, considering his large health pool. Gargantuans also can never be affected by Grievous Wounds, so they are pressed to throw in other, less common anti-healing stuff like Entropic Force. Wild Aggression makes him more fury efficient in melee as well if you decide to go all in. Forced Evolution's Ashen Veil can force a few boosts or misses to reduce the opponent's chances of one rounding, and adds some extra punch to boot. It's also a nice threat extender.

• Thagrosh1 can make the Archangel more durable in melee with Death Shroud, though he can't offer it concealment with Fog of War due to Gargantuan special rules. Draconic Blessing on the Archangel is a nice melee boost while placing it on a friendly unit makes that unit invincible to the Angel's shots, allowing them to set up opportune blast damage on jamming infantry. Keep in mind that Thags can't resurrect huge base models with his feat.

• Kallus2 is all about setting things ablaze for his feat, and the Archangel's Dragon Breath is a great way to accomplish this. It also has 3 melee attacks for his field marshal and a ROF3 weapon for triggering Overrun. If you set targets on fire already, the Archangel will have a threat range of 15" and change for free. Lastly, its animus feeds right into his playstyle as well.

• Vayl2 can crank the Archangel's threat range to 14" on the charge with Boundless Charge (or 16" against constructs with the Mekanoshredder's animus - pretty ridiculous for a Gargantuan), and saves him a fury in the process too. Thanks to its naturally high P+S it doesn't struggle too much with dishing it out, and if necessary she can debuff enemy DEF to help it out in the accuracy department. The Archangel is also a valuable channeling option for her Oraculus - it won't care about taking a POW8 ranged attack and the huge base adds roughly 5" to her arcing range.

• Lylyth3 - With Battle Host, Reposition on her, and Deceptively Mobile on the Archangels this list offers a much bigger movement freedom than you would expect from 3 Huge Based models. Also once targets are being hit under her feat, it is nearly impossible to miss, freeing Fury for damage boosts.

• Lylyth4 Mortality is a spell everything loves, her feat makes it a very potent gun platform and Broadside can be used effectively due to the Angels quality gun. She also has a discount version of Bethayne1's Deceleration spell.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• One of the most fragile Gargantuan with average ARM; a few heavies can even one-round it on a good day.
  • DEF 11 is also fairly easy to hit with not much in the way of improving it within the faction.
• Consequently, without proper maneuvering it won't be on the table for long (and a huge base won't make that easy either).
• Its usefulness drops greatly against enemies with Fire Immunity (a common theme with Legion guns).

Tips & Tricks

• While not every list will have models that can pose a melee threat at 13", plenty of gunlines can and will shoot the Archangel off the table if not careful. Consider Shield Guards, or making sure you take out the enemy's best guns first.
• Consume on your bite attack is usually more of a nice gimmick than an actually useful trait - except in very corner-case situations where you can eat a Hermit, lingering near to a model he wants to protect with Mad Visions. It also stops Dark Prophecy from triggering.

Other

Trivia

• In Christian and Jewish mythology/tradition, Archangels are among the highest-ranking Angelic beings.
• Released in Hordes: Gargantuans (2013)
• One of the last models hand-sculpted, before PP moved into 3d computer-aided sculpting.

Other Legion models

Index Legion