Warwitch Deneghra

Template:Cryxbox This model is playable only in an Unlimited format.

Wherever she travels, Deneghra leaves a scorched path of devastation. On the battlefield she is a beautiful terror, perversely angelic in her wicked beauty. Deneghra drifts like a phantom through trees and walls and need but whisper for men to claw at their skulls in a vain attempt to silence the voices inside their minds.

Basic Info

Warcaster abilities:

• Focus Manipulation

• Battlegroup Controller

• Power Field

• Spellcaster

• Independent Model

• Leader

Feat - The Withering

Enemy models currently in Deneghra's Template:CTRL range suffer -2 SPD, STR, MAT, RAT, DEF, and ARM. The Withering lasts for one round.

Abilities

• Template:Stealth
• Template:Parry
• Template:Cull Soul

Weapons

Sliver
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S
		2				7				12
Template:Shadow Bind Template:Magical Weapon

Spells

{{Category: Template:Black TalonsTemplate:Crippling GraspTemplate:Dark SeductionTemplate:Ghost WalkTemplate:ParasiteTemplate:Venom }}[[Category: Template:Black TalonsTemplate:Crippling GraspTemplate:Dark SeductionTemplate:Ghost WalkTemplate:ParasiteTemplate:Venom ]]

Theme Forces

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

Thoughts on Deneghra1

File:WarwitchDeneghra-Variant.jpg

Alternate sculpt

Deneghra1 in a Nutshell

Have you ever charged in with your undead horde, rolled horribly, and thought "Wow MAT 5 just blows"? Or have you got your Revenant Crew in a great position and thought "Gee it sure would be nice if they could hit the broad side of a barn"?

If so, Deneghra is your 'caster. Her spell list epitomizes the Cryx de-buff and assassination game, and she's got the FOCUS to run it while running several 'jacks. She's mobile, manipulative, and - properly handled - pure frustration to play against. She can make all your evil dreams come true.

Deneghra, or "Denny" as she's fondly referred to, is a favourite among Cryx players for good reason. Once you get her de-buff engine running, you can pick enemy armies apart in detail, more or less at your leisure. Keep her away from the front line as she as squishy as all-hell, but close enough that her feat turn can catch a lot of the opponent's army.

Some players, especially newer ones, have trouble translating the word "de-buff" into a useful concept. Think of it this way: It's like a buff, except your entire army gets to benefit. Parasite effectively gives every single attacker additional POW. Crippling Grasp gives every attacker additional MAT, RAT, and POW.

Oh, and all this stacks with her feat and her army's other abilities, like the Bane Thrall's Dark Shroud (which you can think of as additional POW for every friendly model attacking nearby) or the Satyxis Raider's Gang. Stack enough of these "negative bonuses" and Mechanithralls become whirlwinds of death, and even Denny's Sliver hits like a ton of bricks. Don't get lost in the words; do the math. Deneghra is a powerhouse with Stealth.

Feat thoughts

Her feat is one of the most brutal in the game, leaves a sour taste in your opponent's mouth, and works both offensively and defensively. Offensively, in that it lowers their DEF and ARM making them easier to hit and damage, and defensively in that it lowers MAT RAT and STR so they'll struggle to retaliate. Note that it stacks with spells like Parasite and Crippling Grasp, so try to have those up to maximize the effectiveness of her feat.

Spell thoughts

• If Crippling Grasp is not on an enemy model/unit at the end of every turn, you've done something wrong. It's simply too useful not to be in play every turn possible. Casting this on an enemy warcaster means you should win quite soon, and it's not hard to pull off.
• Ghost Walk is a very useful spell. It's often worth bringing Doctor Stygius along just to cast this exactly where needed without depleting Denny's focus or restricting her movement. You could upgrade to the Withershadow Combine to get the free upkeep, but quite often Deneghra doesn't even want to upkeep spells so that benefit is arguable.
• Dark Seduction lets you make an enemy solo stab/shoot its own warcaster, or have a grunt kill its own Officer. The options are nearly limitless.
• Note that the ARM buff you gain while upkeeping Parasite makes a reasonable difference on Deneghra's low ARM.
• Venom is Deneghra's only offensive spell. Note that sprays ignore a lot of DEF bonuses including Concealment, Cover, Stealth, and target in melee.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Deneghra is weak, uses a lot of focus and needs to play forward to use her feat. She is very reliant on Stealth to not get killed from range. If anything can get to her she is likely dead.
• Anything that shuts down channeling or offensive spells will prevent her from debuffing your opponents freely, which is a necessity for her and her army.
• She will use a lot of focus to put her debuffs on enemy models; she won't have much to fuel 'jacks.
• Aside from terrain mitigation via Ghost Walk, she has no delivery mechanism for her army, either offensively (by improving threat ranges) or defensively (by hiding or protecting her army). Take this in consideration when you are building your list.

Tricks & Tips

File:WarwitchDeneghra-Original.jpg

Original sculpt

• Use Ghost Walk to get your arc nodes where they need to be.
• Put Crippling Grasp on an enemy melee heavy early in the game, then simply avoid it. At -2 SPD, it'll be a longer time getting anywhere.
• Use Reach and Shadow Bind to lock an enemy non-reach model into place, where they don't have the range to retaliate.
• If your opponent is protecting the command attachment of his unit by putting him far behind the frontline, you can use Dark Seduction to have him simply walk away from the rest of the unit. If you can break their formation, you can potentially render many models in the unit from being able to attack. Also usable on Junior warlocks and journeyman warcasters to walk them away from their battlegroup.

List Building Advice

Strategy

Deneghra is the ultimate "turd polisher". That is, she can take the most terrible unit in the game and make it shine by stacking debuffs on the target. This also means there is no "typical army" - she can make anything work. That said, the Ghost Fleet (see the Theme Forces section below) or any kind of "Gunline Funline" are popular. With a Funline you take as many shooting options as possible, such as Leviathans, Pistol Wraiths, and Nyss Hunters and just feat on the enemy before unleashing hell.

Regardless of your build, some of Deneghra's favorites are:

• Some form of focus efficiency, such as a Spell Slave, Satyxis Blood Priestess, and/or Misery Cage.
• At least two arc nodes, so Deneghra doesn't need to risk her neck getting her offensive spells into play.
• If your local players bring anti-stealth tech to the table and they like going for the assasination, you might want some anti-ranged tech (such as Shield Guards) and/or anti-magic tech (such as Orin or Eilish).

Theme thoughts

Denny1 is a premium choice for running Ghost Fleet. Ghost Walk helps delivering Revenants to their targets. Her debuffs allow the Revenants to hit above their class, while The Withering hampers the opponent's ability to strike back. Combined with the built-in recursion of Revenants, and it becomes a very nasty list.

In fact, it used to be much nastier at the start of Mk3 and was classified as "Meta-warping". Several nerfs in 2018.01 to Deneghra1 and the Revenant Crew brought its balance more in line.

You play this theme because it lets you take the Character jacks, Asphyxious4, Cephalyx, and a shooty merc unit for a gunline that is not as outdated and nerfed into the ground as Ghost Fleet.

• Barathrum - In the running of best jack in the Cryx stable, it should do amazing work with all of Denny's debuffs.
• Asphyxious4 - He is basically a heavy warjack with spellcasting ability by himself, but he also lets you run a proper heavy with no strain on Denny's focus pool and also grants that heavy Dark Shroud for more damage, while Black Industries grant it Carapace. A Toro is a good idea for its high native ARM and P+S, it is also an Ordic model which is relevant for:
• Princess Delores Graciela - She can only be brought if you have an Ordic model like the Toro, but does not take your merc slot. She as an obscene gun platform by herself and thus makes excellelent use of Denny's debuffs at range.
• Cephalyx Overlords - Psychic Assault is a great spray that lets the unit do lots of work and they have native Stealth and Pathfinder.
• Dr Stygius - Denny really loves a cheap spell slave and the Dr has Stealth and Pathfinder as well.
• Hellslinger Phantom and Ol' Grim - The character Wraith package is a large boon to Denny, as they can shoot multiple times a turn and thus make excellent use of her debuffs, while also being great flag campers. Two of your three Requisition cards in this theme, no doubt.
• Brute Thralls - They come as ablative shield guards to protect more important models with, or you can ambush them and they will actually do some work. You have to spend 6 points on a Mechanithralls unit, but that is a small price to pay for these models. The Brutes are going to be your third requisition option, totalling you at 19 free points.

• Nyss Hunters - They massively benefit from her many debuffs, bringing quality shooting to your list that Cryx will not find elesewhere, while also being P+S 9 Weapon Masters in melee.
• Boomhowler3 - He can Hoof the Nyss around, meaning the can aim and still move, or go in, shoot and get back out, or go in, shoot and go in deeper to engage. Your choices are many, makign this package very flexible. Shout Down also makes the Nyss more accurate. On top of this, Boomy is still a legitimate melee threat to be reckoned with.

Battlegroup

File:Nightmare.png

Nightmare is Deneghra's pet warjack that she can bring in any theme.

• Nightmare is Deneghra's pet warjack that she can bring in any theme.
• Arc Nodes: Deathrippers are the cheapest in the stable, Nightwretches have a neat gun for one point more.

Starting a 25 point Brawl list

In 2020.10 Phillip Melvin, one of the LOS authors, put together this list for the Brawlmachine format. It was then updated for the 2021.10 errata. He even wrote about it's playstyle and expanding it beyond 25 points, which you can read here.

Theme - The Ghost Fleet

Deneghra1: [+26 WJP]

• Leviathan: [14 pts]
• Defiler: [7 pts]
• Deathripper: [5 pts]

Ol' Grim: [6 pts]

Captain Rengrave: [4 pts]

Machine Wraith: [2 pts]

Revenant Crew of the Atramentous (Min unit): [9 pts]

• 3x Weapon Attachment: [Free] Template:Grey

Revenant Cannon Crew: [4 pts]

Other

Trivia

• Released in Warmachine: Prime (2003)
• Sculptor 2004-ish BattleBox classic (metal): Chaz Elliot
• Sculptor 2008-ish alternative: Grègory Clavilier

Video Battle Reports

• 2019.11 Advanced Maneuvers, vs Zaal2
• 2019.06 Feat Fetish, vs Sorscha3
• 2019.04 Connor's Retribution Analysis, vs Gorten1
• 2019.04 Connor's Retribution Analysis, vs Garryth2
• 2018.11 Tiny Men, vs Anamag1
• 2018.11 Tactical Supremacy, vs Kolgrima1
• Template:VBR