Tyrant Zaadesh

Few house leaders demonstrate the cunning and ambition that Tyrant Zaadesh does, and only time will tell if he is destined for a fast rise or a tragic fall. His warbeasts respond to his will like regimented soldiers in an army, reacting in lockstep to their master. Together with him his beasts function as a cohesive force, each acting in concert with the others to trample his foes with incredible coordination.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Lesser Warlock
• Template:Sacrificial Pawn

Weapons

• Deathsong - 2" reach, POW 6, P+S 12 melee attack
  • Template:Magical Weapon

Spells

{{Category: Template:First BloodTemplate:Tag Team }}[[Category: Template:First BloodTemplate:Tag Team ]]

Theme Forces

• Template:Disciples of Agony
• Template:Masters of War. He gains "Optional Take Down" in this theme.

Thoughts on Zaadesh1

Zaadesh1 in a nutshell

Zaadesh is a melee lesser warlock with a really nice battlegroup spell and a very difficult to use Zap. Often he justifies his existence as a battlegroup controller by reducing the burden on you Warlock as he casts an animus for them, he then throws himself into the thick of things in the late game. He's the cheap "no frills" skorne lesser warlock; Makeda of House Balaash is a point more expensive but provides support and weapon master attacks for that point.

Combos & Synergies

Other than Paingiver Beast Handlers the question is what to bring with him, and in particular what works in his tiny control area and how to keep him far enough back to not be sniped. These tend to fit three groups; beasts that somehow extend his control area, ranged beasts, and support warbeasts that don't worry to much about staying back.

Beasts that can somehow operate outside his control area:

• Archidon also has a long leash and is a heavy(ish).

Ranged and support beasts:

• Basilisk Krea - to spread its aura to protect your infantry from incoming fire. And then run it in to set up the tag team with Zaadesh being the finisher. Zaadesh himself can also run the aura making him harder to shoot. Finally you can make a boosted paralytic gaze shot from the Krea to enable you to land First Blood.
• Basilisk Drake - an all round good warbeast that flanks with the Krea or gives Zaadesh Tag Team
• Titan Gladiator - used to spam Rush and in the late game.
• The Terrorizer - the new warbeast with Rush and both far cheaper than the Gladiator (so less of a risk) and really able to make use of Tag Team.
• Titan Cannoneer - brought mostly for the shooting and staying away from the enemy to keep Zaadesh safe.
• Cyclops Raider - that's back far enough!

Probably the two most popular combinations with him are a single Scarab Pack exploiting Tag Team and Hunting Pack or a drake/krea combination (an enraged, flanking, tag teaming krea is a MAT 8 POW 16 warbeast with an extra dice on damage rolls (!))

Drawbacks & Downsides

• He's squishy
• If he dies, it's very hard to get those beasts back.
• First Flood is a bit of a trap, often needing you to boost both the hit and damage roll to maybe get the effect.
• Tag Team is the same sort of trap Flank is on the Reptile Hound; Zaadesh can only support a small battle group and Tag Team doesn't help the first model to go in.
• In Masters of War Makeda of House Balaash is always worth the extra point over Tyrant Zaadesh (unless another Makeda is your main caster so you can't take her); +2" threat range on any of your units can be huge. (In Disciples of Agony it's not so clear cut).

Tricks & Tips

• First Blood is toward, not directly toward, which allows you to move laterally in order to have a line to support models or get the backstrike bonus.
• If you can keep him safe, and have the points, Zaadesh makes a great tool for Rush, if you bind him to a Gladiator.

Other

Trivia

• Released in Hordes: Exigence 2014
• His grown up, full warlock version is Lord Tyrant Zaadesh