Nightwretch

Carrying a particularly volatile mixture of lead shot and alchemical waste byproducts, the projectiles explode with a concussive blast that can be heard for miles. In seconds entire companies can be reduced to a smoldering heap of flesh flayed from bone.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Construct
• Template:Arc Node

Weapons

Doomspitter
File:Gun icon.jpg		RNG			ROF			AOE			POW			LOCATION
		6			1			3			14			Head
Bash
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S				LOCATION
		0.5				0				7				-

Theme Forces

• Cryx
  • Template:Black Industries
  • Template:Dark Host
  • Template:The Ghost Fleet
  • Template:Scourge of the Broken Coast. Nightwretch gains Gang Fighter in this theme.

• Other Factions
  • Infernal players can use this model in the Template:Hearts of Darkness theme, but only if Mortenebra is leading the army. It gains Accumulator [Soulless] in this theme.
  • Mercenary and Convergence players can use it by either:
    • putting it under the control of Asphyxious4 in various themes,
    • putting it under the control of Mortenebra in Strange Bedfellows.

Thoughts on Nightwretch

Nightwretch in a nutshell

The Nightwretch is arguably one of the two best arcnodes in the Cryx arsenal. The Nightwretch brings every advantage you would expect from an ‘Cryx Death Chicken’. Good value, enough boxes to probably survive one good hit with one or two functional systems, high speed, and most importantly an arcnode.

The Nightwretch is effective against an unusually wide variety of targets. High armor targets frequently sport lower defense scores. With this in mind, the 14 power gun can actually deal non-trivial damage against well armored enemies if it uses a boost.

Against high defense targets with lower armor scores, the Nightwretch can come within 4” to abuse the minimum scatter rule to guarantee a partial hit. A boosted partial hit will kill a 5 box 12 armor solo on average dice. Trading an arcnode for a solo might not be favorable, but in the case of some very critical models like Eiryiss, it might be necessary.

In terms of melee combat if falls behind it’s more melee oriented brethren, but surprisingly not by much. Cryx bonejacks used in melee are sometimes better used simply to do slam power attacks.

Most any use of an arcnode in Cryx will probably land it in retaliation range of an opponent nearly guaranteeing that the counter attack will destroy it unless immediately followed up by the rest of your army with a serious to moderate engage. If you are committing an arcnode for this accept that it is likely to die. It can absolutely be worth it provided you arc an important spell, such as a debuff on a powerful enemy.

In the later stages of the game, warcasters are more likely to personally cast spells rather than use arcnodes. If you find they are not necessary for their node, they make excellent jamming or contesting units as they require an awkward amount of offensive resources to kill thanks to their high defense.

Combos & Synergies

Cryx casters are infamous for their debilitating debuff spells. Use arcnodes to press your casters presence without risking your neck.

• Captain Aiakos - He needs arcnodes as much as any Cryx caster and his feat gives it Assault and +3 Speed, so it can charge 13" and shoot, which is still not better than running 20" and arcing, but it's cute.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Its damage grid has just enough boxes to allow the bonejack to take a good hit and keep going, but a second one will likely leave it crippled if not totally destroyed. This sets the tone for Cryx bonejacks being fast and hard to hit, but easily damaged if they are struck.
• Despite the advantages of the gun, it is 2 points more expensive than a Deathripper. Since many arcnodes simply spend their entire existence running and arcing spells, this can mean it does the exact same thing as a ripper while costing more of extras that are not necessarily going to be used.

Tricks & Tips

• Slam a target to cause damage and leave it knocked down. This has the added benefit of leaving the Nightwretch out of combat afterwards so its arc node may still be used.
• If blast damage is enough to kill your target then move within 4" of them. The most the AOE can then scatter is 2" which means at least part of your target's base will still be under the edge of the AOE.

Other

Trivia

• Released way back in Warmachine: Prime (2003)
• Sculptor: John Winter
• Nickname(s): Bonechicken, Deathchicken, Chicken (these names can refer to any of the Cryx arc nodes)