Failed Experiments

Alchemy can be a messy art, a fact known better by the Golden Crucible than many other scientists of the Iron Kingdoms. One does not simply turn lead into gold without a few accidents along the way. The Crucible Guard is not shy when it comes to human experimentation, which has led to several messy "failures" over the years.

Not every failed human experiment is disintegrated in the process or reduced to a sentient mass of quivering flesh. Some failed experiments grow bestial, monstrous, and highly effective at causing destruction among the enemy ranks. Like faithful canines, these failed experiments are given simple commands and sent howling at the foes of the Crucible Guard where they will cause unimaginable havoc. Whether they live or die in the process is irrelevant, as this secondary experiment is almost always a smashing success.

"Against all the evil that Khador can conjure, all the wickedness that the Greylords can produce, we send onto them ... only you Failed Experiments.
Rip & Tear. Until it is done."

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Tough
• Template:Berserk
• Template:Chemical Imbalance
• Template:Hyper-Regeneration
• Template:Impervious Flesh

Weapons

Hand Weapons (x2)
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S
		1				6				12 to 14
P+S varies due to Chemical Imbalance.

Theme Forces

• Crucible Guard
  • Template:Magnum Opus
  • Template:Prima Materia

• Other Factions
  • Infernal players can use this unit in the Template:Hearts of Darkness theme, but only if Lukas is leading the army.
  • Mercenary players can use this unit in the Template:Llaelese Resistance theme. This unit becomes Llaelese and gains Pathfinder in this theme.

Thoughts on Failed Experiments

Failed Experiments in a nutshell

Adapt, Improve and smash things to death this is the core of the failed experiments. Many Crucible Guard unit’s have strengths and weaknesses that derive from different shot types or preferred targets. The Failed Experiments have none of that nuisance, all of there stats are good, except their command and they even have a unique boosting mechanism to improve that even further. Impervious Flesh makes them hard for infantry and small arms fire to remove them, they heal and they can get a good volume of attacks out due to berserk.

Failed Experiments Developer Comments The failed experiments are, conceptually, exactly what they sound like. Human experiments that were pumped full of all sorts of nasty chemicals and then didn't quite turn out right. They've been reduced to feral animal intelligence, with shifting physical properties as the toxic chemical cocktail in their veins continues to cause havoc on their system. The Crucible Guard send them off in battle much like Khador would Doomreavers. "Fire and Forget". They're pointed in the direction of the enemy, and let off their leashes to cause damage.

Design wise we wanted to create a medium based melee unit that had a unique role vs the existing Assault Troopers. Crucible Guard has loads of shooting elements, and a second dedicated melee unit was something we felt the Faction would appreciate.

Experiments can be faster, potentially hit more accurately, and potentially hit more targets than Assault Troopers, but they aren't as survivable on the approach. Also thanks to Chemical Imbalance if a unit of Failed Experiments wants to hit as hard as Assault Troopers it means they must be at least the same MAT, if not lower due to needing additional SPD.

Combos & Synergies

• Syvestro - Transmutation and his feat can make them very oppressive, making them hit hard, hard to hit and hard to damage at range. They are also very good Revive targets, his feat can heal them and improve their output further.
• Baldwin - Deceleration delivers them his feat also helps.
• Lukas - They are great targets for Iron Flesh, and are about the only unit worth putting it on in his default theme Prima Materia.
• Death Archon - Mortal Fear makes them very resilient and they feed it corpses.
• Ascendant Mentalist - They have another ARM buff against shooting.

In Llaelese Resistance

• Ashlynn1 - With Quicken they become hard to hit and can zoom across the battlefield with ease. They do respectable damage as well, which Ashlynn appreciates. Her feat is also hilarious on them.
• Ashlynn2 - Blood of Liberty gives them Unyielding, adding to their resilience.
  • Gibbs gives them Repo 3", Feign Death and has a minifeat to heal them fully.
• Crosse2 - They love Dauntless Resolve and make great shield guards with Lifebound if you actually want to deliver your army not feed him souls.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Their command value is pretty poor so they can’t spread out that much, normally this problem would be minimal but berserk makes it more noticeable.
• No inherent terrain mitigation.
• They are well protected against small arms and infantry attacks, but they will still get swatted by charges, weapon masters and warnouns if not correctly supported.
  • factor an Ascendant Mentalist into their cost to mitigate this without a casters help.
• if you forget which stats you have increased (or which was the +2 and which was the +1) rules of game etiquette would expect you to treat the situation as none of your stats got boosted. This is most likely to happen when making free strikes on your opponents turn.

Tricks & Tips

• Track the stat changes effectively

Other

Trivia

Released 2021.04