Lord Tyrant Hexeris: Methods

This is my first stab at a warlock Tactica for this blog.  The following  my personal take one of my favorite warlocks, Lord Tyrant Hexeris.  Below, I'll point out what I consider his greatest strengths and limitations, how I build army lists around those qualities, and how I use those qualities in play.

To those who read the tactica - please comment if you have something to say about pHexeris, especially something I didn't mention.  I always like to hear about new combos and tactics, and more ideas will make the article that much more useful for people looking for ideas.

First, a Rundown: Stats, Spells, and Abilities

Stats and Abilities

Hexeris' stats are all basically solid.  Defensively, he's at the high end of average with Def 15 Arm 16.  This means that an opponent will have to work to kill him, but you shouldn't expect him to survive without camping a few points of Fury.  He also has access to two ways of healing besides spending Fury - Life Drinker on his melee weapon (which lets him heal d3 points when he destroys a living enemy model), and the upkeep spell Psychic Vampire (see below).  Finally, Hexeris has Vampiric Reaving, which lets him Reave Fury from destroyed enemy warbeasts as long as he's closer to the destroyed warbeast than its controller.  This lets him top up on Fury for transfers as long as he's close enough to an enemy beast when it's destroyed.  This means that with careful planning, you can keep him very safe against Hordes opponents.  If you don't need all the Fury you Reave for transfers, Hexeris can spend some to heal.

His melee offense is also very solid.  He has a decent Mat of 7, and a high Fury of 7 as well, meaning he's fairly accurate, and can buy and boost a lot of attacks.  His weapon is a high P+S 14, and has Reach, Life Drinker, and Beat Back.  Beat Back and Reach work together very well, giving Hexeris the means to cleave through infantry units, or push a screening model back to open a line on the opposing caster or other target. While Hexeris has no ranged weapon, he does have a very solid magical offense with combination of his two attack spells and Soul Slave (see below).  Finally, Vampiric Reaving has an offensive application as well.  Against Hordes opponents, it lets Hexeris top off on Fury before and during his activation, which in turn lets him cast more offensive spells, and buy more melee attacks.  This ability also combines well with Beat Back against tight formations of beasts, allowing Hexeris to smash his way through multiple beasts, buying attacks and Reaving more Fury as he pushes his way to the next beast in line.

There's also a pure denial side to Vampiric Reaving that's worth mentioning.  Whether Hexeris needs more Fury or not, he can always deny the enemy caster access to Fury by Reaving it off enemy beasts when they die.  This is a consistently useful side benefit to being able to cast more spells, make more melee attacks, or camp more for transfers.  It's even worth doing when Hexeris doesn't want any more Fury purely to deny the enemy warlock access to a full Fury pool next turn (thus necessitating cutting for Fury).

Spells

1) Soul Slave.  If there's spell I feel defines pHexeris as a warlock, this is it.  It's an upkeep spell he can cast on a beast in his battlegroup which lets him channel spells through that beast while it's in his CTRL.  It gives him the option to be very offensive with Soulfire and Obliteration from turn one or two onward, and lets him provide spell and animus support to his army throughout the game.  It lets him snipe out support solos or soften up infantry units, and threaten a long range assassination on the enemy Warcaster or Warlock.

2) Death March.  Hexeris' other core upkeep spell, Death March grants +2 Mat and Vengeance to a unit.  It's a very solid buff that gives Hexeris' infantry significantly more punch in melee, especially against other infantry models.  Vengeance also provides some deterrent to opponents attacking the target unit unless they can kill a bunch of models at once.  It's often a good enough defense to let the unit see melee.  Sometimes, it will provide a significant speed boost on the way in.  While Death March isn't as critical to Hexeris' strategy as Soul Slave, it's a great buff that provides a solid mix of offense and defense, and will see play every game.

3) Soulfire.  This is Hexeris' workhorse offensive spell.  It's a solidly average spell in terms of stats: Cost 2, Range10, Power12.  However, whenever it boxes a living, non-soulless model, Hexeris gains a Fury point.  This makes the spell effectively Cost 1 unless it fails to kill its target (or its target is non-living/soulless).  It's an excellent spell for picking off solos and troopers.  Hexeris can project it up to 24" or more away by channeling it through his Soul Slave target, and it gives him a point of Fury back every time it successfully kills its target.

4) Obliteration.  Obliteration is a more specialized offensive spell.  It's expensive at Cost 4, but has Pow 15 and a 4" AoE.  Due to its high cost, I don't cast it every game with Hexeris.  However, it's excellent against high-Defense infantry units that sometimes give Skorne trouble.  A 4" blast template is big, and the blast damage will be at Power 8, high enough to kill most high-defense infantry easily.  Obliteration is also useful for placing a single, powerful hit on a higher-armor target.

5) Psychic Vampire.  Psychic Vampire is a fairly situational upkeep spell for Hexeris himself.  Whenever an enemy model casts a spell while in Hexeris' CTRL, it takes 1 point of damage, and Hexeris heals 1.  It's amazing against units of 1-wound spellcasters.  Druids, Battle Mages and Hex Hunters are all but shut down by this spell, because the damage is dealt before the spell takes effect.  If those units aren't around, however, I've found that I rarely cast the spell.  It is useful against enemy warcasters/warlocks who are going to do a lot of spellcasting themselves, because it can hurt them enough over the course of 2-3 turns that one or two boosted Soulfires can finish the job.  It's also fairly useful to have up if Hexeris is damaged, and needs to heal without spending a lot of Fury.  Psychic Vampire is not useful in every matchup, but when it comes into play, it can be crushing.

Feat: Dark Dominion

Whenever a living or undead enemy model in Hexeris' CTRL is boxed by an attack, you get to take control of it, and make a 3" advance followed by a single normal melee attack.  It's possible, though rare, to start chain reactions that tear right through your opponent's army.  Normally, however, the Feat will simply let you kill more infantry models for less of an attack investment.

It's easy to take out a small unit with a single AoE that catches just 2 models.  A melee unit like Praetorian Swordsmen or Nihilators can use Dark Dominion to help them wipe out one or two full units, even well positioned ones which don't expose many of their models to attack.  The feat is most effective against powerful melee units who have relatively high Mat and low Def, and least effective against ranged units who have higher Def, but low Mat and poor melee weapons.  It's also important to keep in mind that high powered models taken by Dark Dominion are often best used against warjacks, beasts and casters if there's a chance they'll do enough damage.

Generally, I get the best use out of Dark Dominion when I use it to kill off a single unit with minimal effort.  I only rely on it for more if I'm up against swarms of weapon master infantry or a similar special situation.


Playstyle: How do these abilities work together?

There are a few themes at work in Hexeris' spells and abilities, and they combine to form a strategy I like to think of as "offensive denial."  The key to using offensive denial is to identify the things which let your opponent control the flow of the battle, and try to take them away as thoroughly as possible so that you end up in control.  In practice, this isn't substantially different from playing a lot of our warlocks - killing the opponent's forces and taking away their options is just solid planning.  Hexeris' tools and limitations, however, emphasize the denial aspect of the plan.

Soul Slave is the biggest contributing factor.  It allows Hexeris to project his offensive spells onto a very wide swathe of the battlefield.  With Soul Slave, he can use magic to start picking off models as early as turn 1 with Soulfire and Obliteration.  Early on, these spells aren't best used to score kills against infantry, but to deny the opponent access to their best strategic options (although sometimes killing a lot of infantry models is a good way to do this).

Soulfire is an excellent spell for removing support models and units.  This can break down an enemy army's game plan by denying it access to the tools it normally uses to win.  Many armies use solos who grant Pathfinder or another form of speed boost, give bonuses to attack, or deny your army options at critical times.  Other armies use small support units which have poor defenses, but grant incredible benefits to the models around them.  Channeling Soulfire lets you eliminate those models before they become a problem.  You'll often have to boost either the attack or the damage roll to finish support solos, but once you do, you'll get a point of Fury back (most of the time, anyway).

Obliteration is great for hitting high-Def jamming units hard before they have a chance to engage and tie down your infantry and beasts.  Destroying or weakening these units is important for denying your opponent the ability to jam you and tie down your beasts and infantry.  Hexeris' army excels at dealing with ordinary infantry.  Death March lets Hexeris' own troops hit easily, and Dark Dominion is great at clearing out infantry who can hit each other.  Very high-Def units, however, are hard to remove after they've engaged you, and early Obliteration helps out with that a great deal.  Obliteration is also a good alternative to Soulfire against support units, especially if they're clustered together.  They tend to have low armor, and if they're bunched together at the back of an army, a single Obliteration can wipe out the whole unit.

Hexeris has two other, more situational denial tools: Vampiric Reaving and Psychic Vampire.  Vampiric Reaving punishes the enemy every time they let Hexeris get closer to one of their beasts than they are by denying them access to that beast's Fury.  This is a powerful denial tool against 'casters who like to stay in the back, like a lot of the higher Fury spell casters, and a little less useful against front line Warlocks, who will typically be pretty near their beasts.  When it works, it's a great source of extra Fury for spellcasting and transfers. and you can use it to force the enemy to either cut for fury, or run their beasts too hot.  You always have the option to let those beasts Frenzy rather than kill them for the Fury if it's better for your plan.

Psychic Vampire is incredibly powerful against spellcasting units like Druids of Orboros, House Shyeel Battle Mages, and Blighted Nyss Hex Hunters.  It completely shuts down their spellcasting while within Hexeris' CTRL, since it kills them as soon as they try to cast.

Models:  Emphasizing Strengths and Mitigating Weaknesses

One pHexeris' biggest strengths, and the cornerstone of his playstyle when I play him, is his ability to project his offensive magic at the enemy.  To that end, it's good to have a fast, flexible and fairly expendable beast as a dedicated Soul Slave target to get the spells into the enemy early.  The Razor Worm is very well suited to the job, since it's fast with Advance Deploy, Spd 6, and Pathfinder, and quite expendable at only 4pts.  It also has Eyeless Sight, which will let Hexeris target spells through forests and clouds.  Another good option is the Archidon, which is very fast between Flight and Spd 7.  It's not as expendable as the Razor Worm, but it hits a lot harder, and has a better Animus in Lightning Strike.

An Extoller Soulward is also very helpful in making the most of Hexeris' channeling ability.  Many support models and powerful solos have Stealth, or will try to benefit from Concealment or try to hide behind forests or clouds.  An Extoller Soulward can give Eyeless Sight to Hexeris so his offensive spells ignore Stealth, or put it on his Soul Slave beast (if it's not a Razor Worm) to let him channel at targets through forests and clouds.  I always put a Soulward in my pHexeris list, and I'm always happy that I did.

Aptimus Marketh is also very useful for taking advantage of Hexeris' offensive magic.  Marketh can upkeep spells for Hexeris if he has Soul Tokens.  Even if he doesn't, Marketh can recast Death March to save Hexeris the Fury for upkeeping it.  He can also recast Soul Slave for Hexeris, allowing him to project his spells onto a whole new area of the battlefield, and cast Soulfire, which gives Hexeris an extra point of Fury if it kills its target.  This can even be used to kill off one of your own models to give Hexeris access to 8 Fury starting from turn 1.

I've also found that anything else contributing to Hexeris' ranged game can help him control the flow of battle, which is why I like the Titan Cannoneer with pHexeris.  It's good to have more than just spells available to shoot down solos and troublesome infantry as well as threaten a warcaster from pretty far away.  I have not tried it for myself, but I've also heard good things about Cataphract Arcuarii and Venator Reivers as infantry with pHexeris due to their ranged utility.  Ranged attacks can also start Dark Dominion attack chains further back in the enemy ranks.

Hexeris also has a good ability to deal with infantry.  Obliteration and Soulfire are both great against a lot of infantry, and Dark Dominion multiplies the damage output of anything attacking infantry in Hexeris' Control Area.  It does help a lot to have a dedicated melee infantry unit or two for Hexeris to use Death March on.  The added Mat from Death March makes nearly any Skorne unit a much more reliable threat to enemy infantry, and lets Hexeris' Feat do more against infantry heavy enemies.  I use Praetorian Swordsmen, since they're in Hexeris' Kingdom of Shadows tier, but I've heard good things about Nihilators, Arcuarii, and the Gatormen Posse under Death March.  I've had Cetrati benefit from it a few times as well.  It's a solid buff for any unit, and Hexeris can always make use of a high-Mat infantry unit with Vengeance.

In my experience, pHexeris' biggest limitation is a lack of damage buffs or Mat buffs for Warbeasts besides the Paingivers' Enrage.  This means he needs support from the rest of the army to reliably wreck enemy heavies.  Our heaviest hitters are the Titans, especially the Bronzeback.  I always take multiple Titans with pHexeris to counter enemy heavies, and include a Bronzeback if I can.  Weapon Masters can also deal a lot of damage to heavies on the charge.  Cataphract Arcuarii are our hardest-hitting infantry, and can hit Mat 9 easily with Death March.  Given that they can also shoot multiple targets, and spread out to attack infantry too, Arcuarii make a good match for pHexeris.

Another limitation of Hexeris' is a low ability to increase his army's durability.  His only spell with a defensive component is Death March, and that doesn't so much help its target survive as give it some extra offensive options when it takes hits.  Anything which helps Hexeris' army survive is another good addition.  An Agonizer can reduce the damage output of both warjacks and warbeasts with Spiritual Affliction and Gnawing Pain, and can even provide some protection from Arced spells with Spiritual Affliction.  A Basilisk Krea can greatly reduce the damage an army takes from shooting, can prevent charges from Warbeasts, and gives Hexeris a means to make his Warbeasts more accurate with its the Def debuffs.  I often take an Agonizer with pHexeris since it's cheap, and I like to take a Krea when I can fit it into the list.

Sample Army Lists

Here are a few lists I've run which I feel help Lord Tyrant Hexeris make the most of his abilities while shoring up his limitations.  All the lists are pretty similar, and reflect my own playstyle with pHexeris.  Any other lists people want to add are definitely welcome in the comments.  The more lists and ideas, the better.

35pts

Lord Tyrant Hexeris (+6)
*Titan Cannoneer (9)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Archidon (7)
*Aptimus Marketh (3)
10 Praetorian Swordsmen + UA (8)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)
Extoller Soulward (2)
Agonizer (2)

The Archidon starts off as the Soul Slave target to get Hexeris' magic out onto the battlefield early, while Marketh and the Extoller make sure he has the options to take out the targets he wants to without neglecting support for everyone else.  With 3 heavies I can handle most types of heavy armor, while my swordsmen screen my warbeasts from enemy heavy hitters, and help clear out infantry.  This and my other lists are Tier 1 Kingdom of Shadow lists, meaning Hexeris can start with his upkeeps out.  It's very useful to have them out before turn 1 so Hexeris can focus on offense right away if he needs to.

Lord Tyrant Hexeris (+6)
*Bronzeback Titan (10)
*Titan Cannoneer (9)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
10 Praetorian Swordsmen + UA (8)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)
Extoller Soulward (2)
Agonizer (2)

This is very similar to the previous list; the only difference is that the Archidon and Marketh have been replaced by the Bronzeback.  It's a much harder-hitting list, but lacks a lot of the early flexibility and denial punch that the Archidon and Marketh add.  In this list, the Titan Cannoneer is my Soul Slave target, and leads the other beasts into the fight with a potential barrage of shots and spells.

50pts

Lord Tyrant Hexeris (+6)
*Bronzeback Titan (10)
*Titan Cannoneer (9)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Archidon (7)
*Basilisk Krea (4)
*Aptimus Marketh (3)
10 Praetorian Swordsmen + UA (8)
6 Paingiver Beast Handlers (3)
Extoller Soulward (2)
Agonizer (2)

This is sort of the combination of the other 2 lists.  It has all the flexibility and efficiency of Marketh and the Archidon, and adds the Bronzeback's hitting power.  There isn't a second infantry unit to benefit from Death March, but otherwise, it has a lot of answers.  Infantry won't give it too much trouble, and it has the heavies to take care of anything short of an Arm-buffed Colossal/Gargantuan.

Lord Tyrant Hexeris (+6)
*Bronzeback Titan (10)
*Titan Cannoneer (9)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Basilisk Krea (4)
6 Cataphract Cetrati (11)
10 Praetorian Swordsmen + UA (8)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)
Extoller Soulward (2)
Agonizer (2)

The Cetrati, while a little slow, are an excellent target for Death March.  They're hard enough to kill that the unit is hard to wipe out in one turn, and they really benefit from Vengeance moves and hard-hitting Vengeance attacks.  Again, this list doesn't have a fast Soul Slave target, but uses the Cannoneer to anchor its advance with its gun and Hexeris' spells.  Replacing the Krea with a Razor Worm would fix that, but I don't own one yet.  I would really like to use Arcuarii with pHexeris, but I don't own them yet either.

Battle Reports

Here are all the reports I have on this blog with pHexeris.  pHexeris is a blast, and I had a lot of fun in all of these games.

vs pIrusk 35pts vs 50pts - We made a mistake here, so my opponent was 15pts up.
vs eGrissel 50pts - Highlights Hexeris' trouble with super-heavy armor.
vs Drake MacBain 35pts
vs Absylonia 35pts
vs eDoomshaper 50pts - I played pHexeris in the second game here.

These are all the reports I have written so far, but I'll be updating the post with more reports as I write them up.  Lord Tyrant Hexeris is one of my favorite warlocks, so I'll definitely be writing more reports.

Other Tactica

These are some other good articles on pHexeris that I've used to help shape my tactics with him. 

Skorne Tyrant Guides: Lord Tyrant Hexeris by Rynth
Battle College: Lord Tyrant Hexeris


Thanks for reading, and once again, please leave your thoughts in the comments!