Aptimus Marketh

Aptimus Marketh is one of the most accomplished extollers in the Skorne Empire. He is so focused on the arts of ancestral magic that he prefers the company of venerated ancestor spirits housed within sacral stones to that of his living peers. Though somewhat aloof, his magical prowess is unmistakable and Aptimus Marketh is frequently sought out to lend his skill to the most worthy of skorne warlocks.

Basic Info

• Template:Attached

Abilities

• Template:Gunfighter
• Template:Ghost Shield
• Template:Magical Ability
• Template:Gatekeeper
  • Template:Strength of Death
• Template:Soul Tap

Weapons

• Gravitas - 2" reach, P+S 11 melee weapon
  • Template:Magical Weapon

• Spirit Eye - 8" range, POW 6 ranged attack
  • Template:Magical Weapon
  • Template:Annihilating Gaze
  • Template:Ghost Shot

Spells

{{Category: Template:Harmonious ExaltationTemplate:Spell Slave }}[[Category: Template:Harmonious ExaltationTemplate:Spell Slave ]]

Theme Forces

• Template:Disciples of Agony
• Template:Masters of War. He gains "Optional Take Down" in this theme.
• Template:The Exalted. He starts the game with one soul token in this theme.
• Template:Winds of Death

Thoughts on Aptimus Marketh

Aptimus Marketh in a nutshell

Aptimus Marketh is an interesting support piece. On the one hand he provides your caster with a free upkeep and Spell Slave for an additional support spell, on the other he has a pretty substantial set of boostable attacks, at a fairly reasonable range. While a lot of his power (free upkeep, Spell Slave for support spells/nukes) is warlock-dependent, the things he provide are so good he can be pretty much an auto-include with a lot of warcasters, and is almost always at least worth a consideration. Few Skorne warlocks have too many fury, and almost all of them have at least one worthy damage spell.

Combos & Synergies

Other than liking a source of cheap souls nearby to power him up (Praetorian Karax, Immortals, any of Disciples of Agony's cheap troop options), and a +2 bonus to hit courtesy of the Immortal Vessel, the main thing that matters is which spells he has the ability to cast; with some warlocks, he's amazing, but with others he's got little to do other than Harmonious Exaltation and use his Evil Eye.

Casters that synergise particularly well with Marketh, through combination of fury shortages & good spell lists.

• Master Tormentor Morghoul is the caster with the example of a two cost spell that's worth using Marketh to cast. Abuse is amazing and because it's a support spell, Marketh can cast it safely. (Upkeeping Admonition isn't that common however as it's normally expired). Torment is also a nasty nuke and a gotcha on Warlocks which, while not great when cast from Morghoul, has a good chance to hit when boosted from Marketh. If it damages, the target can't transfer making assassinations a whole lot easier.
• Primus Jalaam has Deadeye which Marketh can cast safely, and uses three upkeeps (although Resourceful upkeeps 1-2 of them for free already). If you have anything at all worth Deadeyeing this is almost a perfect choice.
• Makeda3 without Marketh cannot cast both Incite and Deathbringers if she upkept Bulwark. With Marketh she can and will even have 1 fury left if you had a soul for the upkeep. Just remember that Eliminator moves the spellcaster, so it would be Marketh. On the rare occasions you want to cast offensively with him (either on feat turn or out of desperation) Bladed Gale is much more effective.
• Lord Assassin Morghoul has Mortality, practically Marketh's perfect spell. Flesh Hooks used at the right time can keep a heavy out of the game for an entire turn while he also has one spell to upkeep.
• Lord Arbiter Hexeris has three upkeep spells, two of them defensive. He also has two 3-cost offensive spells in Ashes to Ashes to clear infantry and Hellfire as a decently powerful single target zap.
• Beast Master Xekaar's Mortality is powerful and Xekaar finds casting it himself too dangerous. Deadweight isn't bad either, and you occasionally upkeep pursuit.
• Xerxis, Fury of Halaak's Stranglehold is beautiful and his feat makes it likely to do enough damage to cause a forfeit. He also has 2 upkeeps spells that he likes to upkeep if Marketh has souls to spare. Harmonious Exhaltation lets Xerxis camp more in cases where he's cycling upkeeps and/or casting animuses.
• Dominar Morghoul & Escorts has two upkeep spells and a ranged Blind attack that can utterly shut down enemies.

Casters who only moderately synergise with Marketh. Most casters in this category the problem is too much of a good thing, and your 5 points (lets be real, your Requisition slot) are often better spent elsewhere:

• Makeda1 provides the Lash which allows you to reposition on a simple hit. This can be game winning at the right time but the right time isn't that often. She also has an upkeep spell in Quicken. Harmonious Exaltation = one free Jackhammer.
• Makeda2's Prostration is a rare example of a two cost spell that is worth casting with Marketh (especially when facing any sort of DEF-skew), thanks to the auto-knockdown on hit. He also upkeeps Storm Rager, and she needs all the fury she can get especially if she's going to either cast Dash or Deflection.
• Dominar Rasheth's Breath of Corruption is both an offensive AoE and a way to protect your army via clouds, although Marketh needs to get uncomfortably close to cast it. Despite it and two upkeeps, he's marginal here since Rasheth already has so much fury.
• Tyrant Xerxis has two upkeep spells for Marketh. Xerxis unfortunately has no magical nukes, which seriously caps Marketh's ranged output.
• Lord Tyrant Zaadesh has two upkeep spells and can gain Harmonious Exaltation. And if he needs to be used in combat there's evil eye. Just make sure you have the souls for the upkeeps.
• Supreme Aptimus Zaal has three friendly upkeep spells and can channel souls right where he wants them while keeping Marketh safe. Hex Blast is another smallish AoE, with some usefulness. Sacrificing Marketh to dispel Battle-Charged or another major upkeep can be game-winning. On the other hand he normally simply cuts out the middle man and takes the souls for himself to spend on upkeeps and The Exalted is quite capable of countering spells via Supreme Guardians

It's also worth calling out themes.

• Disciples of Agony doesn't offer anything specifically for Marketh, but the casters with which he synergises the best (Morghoul1, Jalaam, and the Mortality twins Morghoul2 & Xekaar) all do well with this theme. There is a plenitude of cheap troop options in this theme to provide Marketh with souls, notably Farrow Valkyries using Shield Guard.
• The Exalted is a theme all about Skorne's soul mechanic - but there is often extreme competition for souls, meaning that for some casters Despoiler, who comes out of your warbeast points and only costs ten points more than Marketh while having significant damage output, can be a better pick. Marketh synergises very well with Supreme Guardians who can feed him the right number of souls.
• Masters of War is not really Marketh's natural home. You'll bring him here to support your warlock if you have to, and there's quite a short list of warlocks who prefer Marketh to other options they might be taking.
• Winds of Death is a fine fit for Marketh. He is a spellslinger at core, which slots in smoothly with Winds' preference for gunline lists. Jalaam & Morghoul2 both play well in this theme, as does Hexeris2. Affordable, boostable guns are worth taking in almost any shooting list.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Spell Slave has "hidden" restrictions, governed by the rulebook definition of "spellcaster", "spellcaster's control range", and "spellcaster's battlegroup". These can make some special effects of certain spells simply not work when Marketh tries casting them.
• The restrictions on Spell Slave (including the "hidden" restrictions) result in him mainly casting offensive spells, and he is a fragile model to put within 8 inches of an army. Most enemies will swat him the next turn.
• He can't benefit from the Craft Talisman ability of Cyclops Shaman nor cast through arc nodes. Don't expect support from Marketh to be able to reach anywhere near as far as your caster can.

Tricks & Tips

• Frequently the best use of souls on him is to boost the to hit and damage rolls of spells he casts.
  • This notably makes it more efficient to apply Mortality with Marketh than with either Morghoul2 or Xekaar, since you can spend otherwise useless souls instead of valuable warlock fury.
• Warbeasts are friendly living faction models and so he can use their souls.
• Don't forget the Annihilating Gaze - especially not when facing a gargantuan or casters with high native STR.

Other

Trivia

Released in Forces of Hordes: Skorne (2010)