How does Terminus play?

[gormaster94]

I am new to the game and would like some idea how Terminus (Cryx) plays. The model is too cool for words but I know that doesn`t mean he works. Thanks.

[Calaban]

I can answer this from my experience.

He came as sort of a letdown, after getting what can only be called spoiled by plain old Asphyxious.

If youve played Asphyxious then you know that, with a full set of mana, his weapon can shred absolutely anything in a single round. This is mostly to his Sustained ability... which boils down to this: he only has to hit [and boost to hit] once.. after that, he just pumps focus into the hapless victim, adding S15+2d6 damage per point. [I like to call this the quizanart of DOOM.. just stick it in, and press the button repeatedly.. Whirr!! WHIRR!]

Well, this key ability, and sheer "kill-you-edness" is sorely missing in big bad Terminous. Having to roll to hit each time, and with only 6 focus (as opposed to up to 14 with Gaspy), means that as big as he is, he is simply lacking the "kill-you-edness" [Ive tried to find a more apt term, there simply isnt one]. A good example is charging Vlad mano e mano when he has Blood of kings on him: Gaspy practically auto kills him, Terminous fell flat, whiffing this way and that, and utlimately is incapable of killing him in a single round of combat... even WITH lucky hit rolls- which means he is gonna die when vlad gets HIS turn.

His claw is nice, and has opportunities for some fun/sneaky combos.. [sneaky combo? OK: walk up and chuck your harrier like a hand grenade at the enemy- no Str check required, he cant be knocked down upon landing, can still scythe attack.. all that.]

His breath coup de grace after crushing everyone in his melee reach is a nice bonus, but only if hes bullying troops around, and only if a few at a time. And the fact that his to hit is worse than denegras venom spray should give you an idea in yet another way that I find him dissapointing.

His spells are nice.. nothing like giving all your [tightly packed] minions tough the whole game, and demoniac is just insane on a Jack with 3 attacks (slayer/deathjack).. as that becomes 6 attacks. Pur rengrave in front of him and Terminous cannot be shot my any ranged or magic attacks (he just hands it off to rengrave, and we all [should] know he never dies)

His Feat is strong... denying things like Charge orders is a big deal when you have cavalry or manowar demo corps breathing down your flank, and popping the feat before popping several bile thralls all over an enemy is a great way to get lots of soul tokens for a REALLY flashy turn next round.

But all in all I still find myself seeing him stack up short when compared to Asphyxious- for instance, his hellfire is just as nice as Gaspys, BUT his to hit skill is 6, not 7, and that is a rather big deal when you look hard at it- both for to hit numbers, and arc node ranges.

So, ultimately, Id say that Asphyxious and Terminous are two completely different army leaders: Terminous needs to have backup, and rely on his backup moreso than Gaspy.. and Terminous's abilities and spells are more geared toward supporting and buffing his backup, something that Gaspy admittedly lacks. So I guess it depends on your playstyle as to how awesome he is. For me he was a rather bad fit.

But going for LOOKS, he is top notch! He is easilly the most eye catching and lavishly detailed model in my Cryx Collection [that I have dealt with]! He was worth every [store credit] penny and every hour lavishly picking out all the details.. but I must warn you, he is an utter pain to assemble... I resorted to epoxy to make his hip joint more permanent, and had to heavilly pin the wings.

[gormaster94]

Thankyou for the reply. I must say the news was somewhat disappointing. I was hopeing that such a formitable looking model would be as effective. I don`t really have a play style yet as I am still waiting for my books (PR & Hordes). Thought I`d get both just in case. I`ll play a few games before I decide weather to shell out the bucks for Terminus.

[Solain]

Wow I wasn't going to reply, but after reading Calaban's heavy handed subjective perspective I thought i would give you a more subjective analysis.

First in warmachine its just plain silly to try to compare model X to model Y when it comes to warcasters each one does something different. In thise case you need to remember what a Cryxian army is usually about:

Most cryx caster armies revolve around the caster and 3-4 bonejacks and then a bunch of support troops. this is to take advantage of their superior arc node and spell slinging abilities. Terminus and Goreshade do not play this style of game, they play more like a khador type of army, much more aggressive and in your face with very little spell casting.

I personally never lost a match with Terminus, but it will all be based on your playstyle if you want a more agressive type army where you may be using heavy jacks then use terminus and goreshade.

Some tips when using terminus are you want to be surrounded by lots of troops, usually mechanithralls to take advantage of his sacrificial pawn ability. Usually since he has very limited focus and few offensive spells youll want to hold on to 5 focus for armor and just upkeep his debuff spell.(cant remember what its called but the +strength -def one).

Most spellcaster cryx armies are based as a delivery system to get 1-2 bonejacks into casting range to kill the caster. terminus and goreshade armys are the reverse, you use the rest of your army as a screen/meat shield to deliver your caster into melee against the opposing caster. Terminus's wings gives you great mobility to get where you need and he is a melee beatstick no doubt about it.

Just keep in mind what type of army you want to run and then make your own decision what caster best fits your style. Advice like that above that pretty much just says that guy sucks isn't going to be too helpfull for you to make a decision; in the end its about fun so have fun out there!.

[gormaster94]

I am glad you took the time to reply Solane. You paint quite differant picture of Terminus. Sounds like he is worth a try. The difaculty of the model is not a problem as I do a lot of converstion work on my WHFB stuff, including pinning. Thanks!