Tactica: Mordikaar

[gaminguy]

Overview

Void Seer Mordikaar doesn’t look like a whole lot at first glance. His whole is more than the sum of his parts however, and he is one of Skorne’s better attrition warlocks. Where other warlocks make their troops harder to kill, Mordikaar’s have a way of not staying dead.

Stats

Mordikaar has classic old-man stats, appropriate for a guy who ought to be undead. At DEF 14, ARM 16, and 16 damage boxes he won’t hold up to any attention from the enemy. His speed is average for small based infantry, his STR and MAT are a measly 5, and he rounds it out with a more respectable RAT 6. Overall Mordikaar tends to operate at the very edge of his control range so his poor defensive stats are not a lethal obstacle, but he does need to be carefully defended.

Weapons and Abilities

Outside of the standard Magical Weapon, Mordikaar’s sword Eidolon is forgettable; the real interesting piece of kit is Death Blast. At POW 13, Range 10, and AoE 3, it is easily the best ranged attack of any Skorne warlock and it matches some of our better ranged spells as well, which is good since Mordikaar lacks a “normal” attack spell. Both weapons also have Life Drinker; healing d3 after destroying a living enemy model isn’t huge, but it’s important to remember that its there for those rare occasions when Mordi takes some early damage or has to cut for Fury.

For the rest of his abilities; Void Lord makes the already decent Void Spirits more accurate with boosted attack rolls, Cull Souls is mostly there to allow Hollow to work (although there is the odd chance of Mordikaar killing something in melee), and Mordikaar has Poltergeist which is easy to forget since it’s also part of his feat.

Spells

Hollow: The engine to Mordikaar’s other abilities. The target unit becomes undead (with all the benefits) and tough, and every time one of them is destroyed Mordikaar gains Soul Tokens. This spell is also his biggest weakness; all of our warlocks have valuable upkeep spells but only Mordikaar really depends on his to function properly. Upkeep removal and RFP effects can seriously hamper his effectiveness, so plan accordingly. You’ll want a big unit to put this on, but putting it on Blood Runners or Ferox that you intend to throw out as a speed bump early is viable as well.

Revive: This is Mordikaar’s real bread and butter spell, bringing back at least one model every turn (and upwards of five if a big Hollow unit gets wiped out) is what earns him his label as an attrition warlock. The best use of this spell is generally bringing something dangerous (Acuarii, Ferox) back into a good charge position before the unit activates for the turn.

Essence Blast: Pick a living friendly faction model, use it as the point-of-origin of a 6” spray at POW 5 + the base STR of the model, then RFP the model. Note that the RFPed model has to have LoS to the target of the spray, Mordikaar does not. This spell is highly versatile, but it undercuts Mordikaar’s primary shtick since it prevents Revive. On normal infantry it won’t get much above POW 12, on beasts it gets really dangerous. If your STR 13 Bronzeback doesn’t manage to kill that Warcaster, Essence Blast lets you take one more POW 18 stab at it. As an added bonus, it lets you clear your own models out of the way; you can run a couple of Swordsmen/Nihilators/whatever into ideal positions and then EB them to open a hole for Molik Karn to Side-Step through, knowing that neither of your own models will be in MK’s way when he activates. On a big Hollow turn Essence Blast can let Mordikaar put shots on more targets than almost any other warlock, although he can chew up big chunks of his own army this way. Essence Blast also enables some sneaky assassination runs if you have a little extra Fury; a couple of Acuarii probably won’t drop a Caster whose guard is down even on the charge, but a couple of boosted POW 12 Essence Blasts after the charge might just get the job done.

Banishing Ward: There are not many offensive upkeep spells in the game, and most will have done their damage already by the time you could remove them with Banishing Ward. This spell is far more useful for preventing a model/unit from being targeted in the first place, and it has the added advantage of stopping other magical abilities like the push/pull effects on Druids and Mage Hunters.

Ghost Walk: Probably Mordikaar’s most under-rated spell, Ghost Walk lets a unit ignore Free Strikes with the added bonus of granting pathfinder. This spell has lots of potential uses, but it does have the disadvantage of RNG 6. A Shaman or Marketh can help here. It can let a ranged unit walk out of melee without penalty, let Karn walk past a heavy hitter without having to waste a Side Step on it, help compensate if you lose a Gladiator or TyCom early, and generally make your models harder to pin down or guard against.

Feat

Void Wind is primarily defensive, but it’s pretty good for positioning your army where you want it next turn with little fear of reprisal; even Karax are sporting DEF 15 under Void Wind. Better, since it adds Poltergeist no melee combatant can afford to miss more than a couple of times without being shoved back out of melee range. It’s easy to shoot yourself in the foot with it against shooting units though, that D3 movement can easily shove a target out of your charge range. Thankfully it’s optional and it’s not particularly hard to see when not to apply it.

[gaminguy]

Synergies

Warbeasts

While they might serve better on an infantry unit, Banishing Ward can help keep a melee beast from being rendered ineffective by Telekinesis or other placement effects and Ghost Walk can allow any beast to waltz through openings in the opposing line. Essence Blast can also use a beast as an origin point; while that’s very expensive it can also make an assassination run with a beast a little more likely to succeed.

Raider: Far Strike is fantastic, and only Zaal needs it worse than Mordikaar. Death Blast is a fantastic ranged attack, but at 10” Mordikaar doesn’t really want to be close enough to use it. Far Strike lets him blaze away from 14” out, matching the effective operating range of his major spells. It's important to remember that Mordikaar is very squishy though; there are a lot of things that can cover 14" in this game and even with Far Strike if Mordikaar can shoot there's a good chance he's close enough to be targeted in return.

Savage: On a good Hollow turn Mordikaar can put attacks on more targets than any other Skorne warlock, but he's frequently sitting at 6-7 to hit. Prescience can help you make the most of that extra Fury.

Brute: Mordikaar has terrible defensive stats outside of his feat turn, so Shield Guard and Safeguard are really handy for him. Tiberion brings that to the table as well, but he doesn’t really want to hang in the back field babysitting Mordikaar.

Krea: If Mordikaar is in melee, things have gone seriously awry. If Mordikaar is being shot at Paralytic Aura is very handy for getting him up to marginally survivable, and has the advantage of being stackable with Safeguard.

Tiberion: Our new character titan is probably better suited to working with a front line melee warlock, which doesn’t describe Mordikaar at all. Mordi wants his infantry doing the dirty work. However, between Immovable Object, Banishing Ward, and Cetrati with Vorkesh you can present a big chunk of “NO!” to your opponent. It’s not quite playing Menoth, but it would have to be annoying to face off against.

Archidon: This guy is one of the few beasts that Mordikaar has something special for; no beast in the stable benefits quite as much as the Archidon does from Ghost Walk. Flight no longer grants immunity to Free Strikes like it did in Mk I, but Mordikaar’s Archidons are extraordinarily hard to hide from since he can grant it as needed. They also hit DEF 17 under his feat and with KD immunity they can be positioned very aggressively if your opponent isn't sporting some auto-freeze or other defence lowering tech. Mordikaar doesn’t want to be very close to the front line, but with the Archidon’s long threat range it can more easily hang back to be buffed and Marketh makes it a moot point anyway.

Sentry: Mordikaar can Banishing Ward this guy, which lets him be a bigger anvil than usual and stops Telekinesis from messing with his shield. Paired with Tiberon for bump Mordikaar can run an even more solid brick than he could pre-Domination, even if that's not his standard layout.

Cannoneer: Mordikaar does tend to rely on his infantry (most of his core abilities are based around them) so he also tends to skimp a bit on his beast layout. Without many beasts on the table Mordikaar is going to want to keep them back from the action early-mid game, and the Cannoneer fits in nicely here being able to add his fire to Mordikaar's AoE while staying back out of harm's way. The Cannoneer also has the advantage of being reasonably capable in melee against heavy 'jacks and other hard targets (compared to the Raider, Drake, or Shaman) if there are too many of them for the Acuarii to handle alone.

Drake: While Mordikaar doesn't do a whole lot for it directly, when a spray is what you need due to cover or concealment or lack of LoS a Drake can take his shot and then be essence blasted. That's two boostable magical sprays at POW 14/13 (and possibly another with the Will Breaker), and that's nothing to sneeze at.

Mammoth: Theory at this point, but the Mammoth is a whole lot of points for a guy who would rather be taking infantry. It sort of falls into the same niche as the Cannoneer though, and the Mammoth/Raider/Krea module does leave enough for at least two or three units at 50 points. Probably a non-starter at 35 though.

Reptile Hounds: If these little buggers had come out in Domination Mordikaar would have been one of the three warlocks happiest to see them. The ability to cover his native Fury generation for a mere 6-8 points is pretty darn good for a guy who wants to take a swarm of infantry since it opens his build options up in a substantial way. The meta shift from Colossal took some of the wind out of that idea, but it's not totally without merit and it opens some skew lists when everyone is expecting a big pile of armor.

The Despoiler: WARNING - EARLY THOUGHTS HERE. Some stuff here is obvious: he hits like a Gladiator under Mordikaar with a better threat range, generating Void Spirits with the guy who buffs Void Spirits just standing there is nifty, Mordikaar wants Hollow upkept and now Marketh is free for lists where his soul collection isn't being stepped on, and being an infantry-centric Warlock without a damage buff Dark Shroud is quite the boon. He doesn't fix everything that's wrong with Mordikaar (particularly his vulnerability to upkeep removal), but he does help address some of his issues.

As always the Gladiator is just plain good with everyone, but Mordikaar doesn't have any particular synergy with it. Ghost Walk makes Rush a bit less necessary, which shouldn't preclude taking it.

[gaminguy]

Solos

Void Spirits are a good choice due to Void Lord, and since the Hollow unit gains Fearless Abomination is less of a concern than normal.

Since Mordikaar works well with the Ferox, Tyrant Rhadiem is a decent choice. He tends to only get one good turn before your opponent kills him, if they come up short he is an STR 7 for Essence Blast. Be aware that EB bypasses the Dragoon Dismount rule though.

Marketh can help Mordikaar with Fury management by recasting Hollow or Banishing Ward, or casting Ghost Walk (which gets a fair bit stronger if you don't have to expose Mordikaar to cast it). He’s less useful than usual for maintaining upkeeps since the Hollow unit won’t give up souls, but Mordi likes having several infantry units to work with so it shouldn’t be that big an issue. It's worth noting that RFP effects deny normal soul collection, so spells like Shatter Storm can gimp both Hollow and Gatekeeper at the same time.

The Blood Runner Master Tormentor has some good synergy with Mordikaar, especially with Marketh on the table; with Ghost Walk she can kill something and then Sprint into a better position without worrying about Free Strikes. The BRMT is normally a mini-tarpit; charge into a front line melee unit, kill a model or three, sprint further into the unit to engage several models, and your opponent now has to alter his order of operations to remove the BRMT without burning the activation of the infantry she’s engaging. With Ghost Walk she can move to engage a more valuable shooting or utility unit your opponent thought was safely out of range, or move into a good Essence Blast position to take a bigger chunk of infantry out of the opposing line if Marketh cast Ghost Walk.

The Will Breaker is going to be good with just about everyone, Mordikaar is going to really like one for being able to multiply the effectiveness of a single Cannoneer when he's playing beast-light (although that isn't going to come up as much in the post-Colossal Meta). Mordikaar is also capable of some real shenaniganey plays with EB against high DEF/low ARM casters; Puppet Strings can take those from long-shots to frighteningly reliable.

The other usual suspects are good choices as well; the Agonizer, Extoller, and Tyrant Commander will all work just fine. Mordikaar can have issues with Fury management as Hollow can leave him with odd amounts and his spell list is expensive, the Agonizer can make sure the extra doesn’t go to waste. The TyCom gets some extra utility since Reveille helps mitigate the downside of making Tough rolls. The Extoller can help Mordikaar with firing lanes (you will probably be trying to deny targeting lines to Mordikaar and that cuts both ways) and granting Magic Weapon is frequently handy, although the Extoller does have the same issues with soul collection that Marketh has.

Minions: Orin Midwinter will serve Mordikaar well as he can help mitigate some of the Caster-based upkeep removal options, Ghost Walk can make the Thrullig easier to deliver, Swamp Gobbers can help mitigate Mordi's terrible defensive stats, and the Totem Hunter is still one of the best solo hunters we have available. Just remember you can’t Essence Blast through them.

The Ancestral Guardians and Hakaar are probably not the best options to take with Mordikaar since Hollow will interfere with their soul collection; as with the Extollers careful placement can take care of that issue but it’s still something to keep in mind. With Mordikaar’s primary spells being faction specific, Minions are not the best use of his points either and that takes the Task Master out of the running too.

[gaminguy]

Units

Swordsmen: At 12 men for only 8 points Swordsmen make a better than average Hollow target, and you’ll care less than usual when they die.

Venators: The only other 12-man unit Skorne has available, Venators also deserve mention as a Hollow target. They can pump out CRAs at POW 21-23; your opponent will prioritize killing them. Hollow can keep them in the game longer and let you benefit from the ones that die, and they have the advantage of being able to stand up after making a tough roll and still be effective.

Ferox: The problem with most Cav is that they struggle to do any damage without the charge. Mordikaar can Revive the Ferox into good charge positions, letting the unit accomplish far more than usual. They are still pretty fragile (Spell Ward can help there) and throwing Hollow on them works well early since they have Steady and can be thrown in to jam while slower units get into position or take objectives. They’re an expensive unit to use that way, so it’s best reserved for bad match-up situations.

Blood Runners: While you can jam early with Ferox, Blood Runners are a much better (and less expensive…) choice for the task. They will draw a lot of attention anyway; Hollow can help keep them alive for an extra turn or two, Shadow Play negates some of the downsides of Tough rolls, and they feed Mordikaar early Fury on the side.

Cetrati: Vorkesh deserves special mention here; between Vorkesh and Banishing Ward you can deny a large chunk of your army as spell targets, and nothing about Spell Ward prevents Revive or Essence Blast from working on them. This is one of the places where Vorkesh actually earns his keep, otherwise Acuarii will probably serve Mordikaar better. Cetrati with Vorkesh is a big chunk of points, so this is best reserved for building a brick at higher point levels.

The Cetrati themselves bring their usual bag of tricks to the table, and Mordikaar can throw Banishing Ward at them to up their survivability if you didn't pack Vorkesh. Mordikaar gets the best use out of Revive by bringing high damage output grunts back into good charge positions and Cetrati are hard to kill (and don't want to charge) so they are not the best fit, but Acuarii struggle to hit DEF 15+ and CMA makes that a non-issue for Cetrati.

Acuarii: For multi-wound infantry Acuarii are pretty squishy, they’re actually worse than Tharn Ravagers for the points there. They make up for it with damage output; Revive keeps them in the fight for longer and lets them repeatedly make those four-die damage rolls that make Weapon Master infantry so dangerous.

Incindiarii: Again; terribly squishy for multi-wound infantry and Revive helps them stay in the fight longer. They might take fewer casualties as well for working further from the front, although they're also going to be a higher priority target for infantry heavy lists. They're not as good a fit for Mordikaar as Acuarii (not that many things are), but they willl help keep Mordikaar from being out-swarmed.

Nihilators: An excellent choice with Mordikaar since he can't buff Mat or P+S and they have good stats for both. Berzerk means that Reviving even one of them can be a big return-on-investment as well.

Catapult: One of the issues with artillery is that it tends to die if it gets any attention from the enemy at all. Since the Catapult is so inaccurate anyway (even with Range Finder it’s sitting on RAT 3) there really isn’t much of an issue with spreading the grunts out at the edge of CMD range to keep them safer. That can buy an extra turn or two as the leader replaces the grunts under normal circumstances, but Mordikaar can make this even more frustrating by Reviving the Grunts.

Karax: Since Mordikaar brings a really good AoE to the table and combos well with the Catapult it's not hard to really spam AoEs with him. Karax are immune to bad scatters, Ranked Attack lets Mordikaar ignore them for targeting, and between Hollow and Revive they can almost be hard to remove. They are still better as a second wave unit or warlock bodyguard, and with CMA they can make contact with high DEF models late game (read: warlocks/casters) if and when your elite units get wiped out.

Immortals: Mordikaar is one of the few Warlocks who I would not consider taking Immortals with. They cannot take Hollow, cannot be used for Essence Blast, and they need an AG/Hakaar who really will be starved for souls in a Mordikaar list. They can be revived (which is funny) but you lose too much other utility with them.

Minions: While Banishing Ward and Ghost walk can target minions, Mordikaar’s primary abilities are faction-specific. Putting Minion units in his army is not generally a good idea unless you have a specific plan for them. Bog Trogs are not a bad choice since they tend to be out of position to receive any buffs anyway and they help clump up the opposing army away from the edges, making AoEs more effective, and a min unit of bone grinders can help keep valuable Animus like Rush or Lightning Strike in the game, but otherwise Mordikaar should stick to faction infantry

Battle Engine The Animanithrax is a tough include for Mordikaar since he would much rather be spending those points on Acuarii, Ghost Walk only lets it walk out of combat (which it probably wasn't going to do anyway), and it's already immune to the more annoying placement effects that you might want to stop with Banishing Ward. It is an STR 13 model so Essence Blast hits pow 18 from it if you know it will probably die next turn, but that's hardly an overwhelming reason to take it. On the other hand, every little bit counts for a model that's struggling to find any space at the table at all.

[gaminguy]

Skornergy

Mordikaar has the worst example of Skornergy on a single model outside of Hexeris: Hollow prevents Essence Blast and Essence Blast prevents Revive. Essence Blast is a spell that should be used sparingly, so it's not all that big a deal.

Tier List

Mordikaar's tier has a couple of big issues:

1) It denies Beast Handlers, which is a big deal since it makes our beasts decidedly less effective on heavy targets.

2) It denies his two best Revive targets (Acuarii and Ferox), which compounds the first issue and leaves Mordikaar with a real lack of heavy hitters.

Unless you really want to play infantry spam with him it's probably not worth the bother.

Conclusion

Overall Mordikaar is pretty solid, but he has some glaring weaknesses. Success with him hinges on destroying opposing upkeep removal as early as possible and then out-grinding the opposing army until you have an overwhelming advantage in material, and knowing when to abandon Hollow and start throwing Essence Blast. If you find yourself up against an army with either a lot of upkeep removal or a lot of RFP effects it’s important to switch tactics accordingly, and he loses a lot of potency without Hollow.

Special thanks to dboeren, PaintVagrant, TaintedCoil, Junn Khan, and Benji for their input.

[Tainted Coil]

Great write up, Mordikaar is one of my favorite Warlocks, but I must disagree on Cetrati and Hakaar. Cetrati provide a solid wall for Mordikaar to hide behind, allowing him to get close to the enemy. If you stay in shield wall they are incredibly hard to kill... Then you revive them when one dies. It's frustrating for you opponent and keeps the attrition going. They also make a good hollow target even though it cuts down on soul generation.

Hakaar is just a beast. I always take a full Nihilator unit to support my Cetrati and I use Hakaar to collect their souls. This allows him to function at full capacity and use his vengenance move every turn.

[gaminguy]

Great write up, Mordikaar is one of my favorite Warlocks, but I must disagree on Cetrati and Hakaar. Cetrati provide a solid wall for Mordikaar to hide behind, allowing him to get close to the enemy. If you stay in shield wall they are incredibly hard to kill... Then you revive them when one dies. It's frustrating for you opponent and keeps the attrition going. They also make a good hollow target even though it cuts down on soul generation.

Hakaar is just a beast. I always take a full Nihilator unit to support my Cetrati and I use Hakaar to collect their souls. This allows him to function at full capacity and use his vengenance move every turn.

I did specify that Cetrati were only a poor fit compared to Acuarii unless you are bringing Vorkesh, which also rules them out as a Hollow target. My experience is that Cetrati don't really match how Mordikaar wants to play unless you are building a brick with him, and I don't think that's the most effective way to use Mordikaar unless you run into one of his bad match-ups. I also said positioning could overcome the anti-synergy between Soul Guardian and Hollow, even if I don't think they pair up very well.

What I did note while deciding how to respond is that Hollow and Soul Guardian both trip over RFP effects, I don't like having several things in an army that can be subverted by the same effect.

I'm not saying you're wrong, Cetrati do have their uses with Mordikaar and Hakaar is a beast period, I just can't talk about them in the Tactica in good conscience without bringing up the ways that they don't mesh well with Mordikaar.

[Benj]

Archidon also has the additional advantage of being immune to KD due to Serpentine. DEF 17 + KD immunity + Poltergeist should allow for riskier positioning in search for an assasination angle, and like you said Ghost Walk guarantees that he can't just be tied down either.

[gaminguy]

Oooh good point, I'll include that.

[Tainted Coil]

I did specify that Cetrati were only a poor fit compared to Acuarii unless you are bringing Vorkesh, which also rules them out as a Hollow target. My experience is that Cetrati don't really match how Mordikaar wants to play unless you are building a brick with him, and I don't think that's the most effective way to use Mordikaar unless you run into one of his bad match-ups. I also said positioning could overcome the anti-synergy between Soul Guardian and Hollow, even if I don't think they pair up very well.

What I did note while deciding how to respond is that Hollow and Soul Guardian both trip over RFP effects, I don't like having several things in an army that can be subverted by the same effect.

I'm not saying you're wrong, Cetrati do have their uses with Mordikaar and Hakaar is a beast period, I just can't talk about them in the Tactica in good conscience without bringing up the ways that they don't mesh well with Mordikaar.

I should clarify better - I use Mordikaar as an anti Cryx/Legion caster and the combination of Cetrati with hollow and Nihilators followed by Hakaar has proven quite effective. Proper positioning allows you to get off a devastating feat turn by jamming them with Nihilators and pushing the Cetrati up field and using them to protect Mordikaar.

It's an alternate way to use him but I have found this method works great in a "bad matchup list" for your second list, mainly to take on Cryx and Legion, being the power factions.

[Bully Bully Mahu]

Agreed.

Also, I was thinking about the Gator Witch Doctor for Mordikaar. The Witch Doctor's ability is not an upkeep, so you can ensure undead and tough on your Hallow unit. I don't have my books in front of me, but I would be interested in the interactions of Hallow and Dominate Undead.

Also, a common tactic I use is running a swordsmen into position, essence blasting that support solo, and then cycling hallow onto the unit. If I can get to Eiryss or Admonia, my life becomes a lot easier. lol

[Lord Tyrant peers]

what a well set out and worded mordikaar tactica( i'm not being sarcastic, i genuinely like it!)
a lot of the stuff you mentioned i have already tried out to some extent or another and bully bully mahu i think the witch doctor will be a stellar addition to the void seers ranks for the zombify rule slap it on nihilators to make them tough and undead and have mordikaar or or marketh cast hollow(tough and undead) on a full unit of swordsmen and ua. though on the cetrati with vorkesh side i generally leave them alone and pack in another unit or 2 for the 14 points they cost. i think the archidon will be numero un beast with mordikaar when they are released

anyway kudos on the write up gaminguy

[kalkyrie]

His theme list might be of use.

Take 3 small units (and one large one) of your choice.
Take 3 Archidons (and your two free Void Spirits).

Tie up their front lines with your cheap infantry, feat, then send the Void Spirits and Archidons over to hug their caster.
Watch as they try to figure out ways to deal with multiple high DEF models, that they can't really get away from.

The major drawbacks of the theme list (no handlers, no good revive targets) aren't too bad with this tactic. You can't get beast handlers close enough to his caster to buff your Archidons, and any spare Fury you have from Hollow will probably be going on Essence Blasts to secure the kill (and tbh you won't have the point for Ferox/Arcs anyway. Pity, since Ferox fit quite well).

[Junn Khan]

I never go beyond tier 2 with his theme list, too taxing at higher levels and oddly enough the best abilities occur at lower tiers. The needing LOS from Mordikaar though is new, never knew that. So how else does essence blast work? I know the front arc from the model being blown up but is there anything else?

[Rynth]

IThe needing LOS from Mordikaar though is new, never knew that. So how else does essence blast work? I know the front arc from the model being blown up but is there anything else?

That's new to me as well. I knew the Point of Origin needed LOS, but didn't think Mordikaar did. Link to that ruling?

[gaminguy]

The needing LOS from Mordikaar though is new, never knew that. So how else does essence blast work? I know the front arc from the model being blown up but is there anything else?

Long story short, did not do the research. Ruling is here, and I've fixed the tactica notes on it. I was thinking of the Hexeris-arcing-at-a-Stealthed-model interaction where the Node could be within 5" and Hexeris would still auto-miss to Stealth, but sprays ignore Stealth anyway.

[droffset]

First off, great write up for a warlock I've recently started learning.

I think the Titan Cannoneer is worthy of consideration in a Mordikaar list. While Mordikaar doesnt offer her much beyond Ghost walk for getting out of melee she can hang back screening mordikaar while still taking a shot where needed. She has a good defensive animus too and is a good transfer target. I tend to rely on infantry a bit more than beasts in his lists lately taking nihilators and arcuarii for their STR 7.
I also like turn a 2 essence blast sometimes if i can get close enough to something important to destroy like shifting stones or scary solos.

[Rynth]

I was thinking of the Hexeris-arcing-at-a-Stealthed-model interaction where the Node could be within 5" and Hexeris would still auto-miss to Stealth, but sprays ignore Stealth anyway.

Apologies for taking this Off topic, but where is that ruling? Ruling it the way you've described nerfs all arc nodes and goes against the wording of Stealth since it calls out Point of Origin rather than attacker.

Stealth – Ranged and magic attacks declared against this model when the point of origin of the attack is greater than 5 ̋ away automatically miss. ...

[Junn Khan]

Long story short, did not do the research. Ruling is here, and I've fixed the tactica notes on it. I was thinking of the Hexeris-arcing-at-a-Stealthed-model interaction where the Node could be within 5" and Hexeris would still auto-miss to Stealth, but sprays ignore Stealth anyway.

Whew, glad that worked out.

[gaminguy]

Apologies for taking this Off topic, but where is that ruling? Ruling it the way you've described nerfs all arc nodes and goes against the wording of Stealth since it calls out Point of Origin rather than attacker.

The ruling is here, it's worked that way for quite some time.

[Rynth]

The ruling is here, it's worked that way for quite some time.

Maybe I'm missing something, but the OP in that thread is asking if the spell auto-misses if the node is more than 5" from the target. That thread says nothing about what happens if the node is within 5" of the target.

[Junn Khan]

Maybe I'm missing something, but the OP in that thread is asking if the spell auto-misses if the node is more than 5" from the target. That thread says nothing about what happens if the node is within 5" of the target.

I think it's implied that the model is more than 5" away. Stealth works on point of origin for the attack and doesn't really apply within 5". Hence the only way to "ignore it" as the post indicates would be from further than 5" away. Otherwise arc nodes lose a lot of usefulness.

[gaminguy]

... d'oh! The original ruling was that a node with Eyeless Sight didn't confer it to a spell channeled through it, so if the target was more than 5" from the node the spell would still auto-miss unless the caster also had Eyeless Sight.

I can't think of a single instance where that has come up in a game for me, probably why I had it wrong. Thanks to all involved for the catch.

[5thstreet]

Great tactica! Thanks for taking the time to write it up. Mordikaar is my favorite warlock, and probably the one that I have the most experience with. There are a few things that I hadn't thought of, and am going to try.

I will agree with what others have said... I really, really tried to get his theme force to work (I've got way to many void spirits and feralgeists now), but I really didn't have much success with it. Again the lack of a good revive target hurts.

I've seen a couple of people mention that they use Mordikaar as their anti-cryx/legion warlock. I also use him for anti-cryx work. The more I think about it, I can't really remember why I do that ...??? Hollow screws up their soul collection, I think.

I noticed that Karax didn't get a mention in the tactica. I will assume they operate the same as swordsmen under Mordikaar?

[Tainted Coil]

Great tactica! Thanks for taking the time to write it up. Mordikaar is my favorite warlock, and probably the one that I have the most experience with. There are a few things that I hadn't thought of, and am going to try.

I will agree with what others have said... I really, really tried to get his theme force to work (I've got way to many void spirits and feralgeists now), but I really didn't have much success with it. Again the lack of a good revive target hurts.

I've seen a couple of people mention that they use Mordikaar as their anti-cryx/legion warlock. I also use him for anti-cryx work. The more I think about it, I can't really remember why I do that ...??? Hollow screws up their soul collection, I think.

I noticed that Karax didn't get a mention in the tactica. I will assume they operate the same as swordsmen under Mordikaar?

I use him as anit-Cryx for two reasons. The first is his feat. Most Cryx units have a low MAT and no shooting, so barring some of the jacks or characters his feat basically gives you a turn of positioning without reprisals. The second is the Hollow/Revive combo. Cryx is a good attrition faction but their units are pretty easy to kill. By taking some tougher units (Nihilators and Cetrati in my case) I get tough on both units and when they do kill a Cetrati it gets revived.

Also Banishing Ward on Mordi himself for spell assassination protection, or on a Void Spirit to make it basically immune to everything.

[Bormaigo]

I'm trying Karax with him next unlike the cetrati, karax don't block line of sight and he also will take no blast damage when he is base to base. you can also death blast through them with no repercussions.

[DeathnGlory]

Maybe I'm missing something, but the OP in that thread is asking if the spell auto-misses if the node is more than 5" from the target. That thread says nothing about what happens if the node is within 5" of the target.

I think essence blast got put into the same ruling as crevasse. That when the spell is cast the 6" spray must originate in the front arc of the model that is removed from play. Will look for it again.

[gaminguy]

I'm trying Karax with him next unlike the cetrati, karax don't block line of sight and he also will take no blast damage when he is base to base. you can also death blast through them with no repercussions.

Did I actually forget to include Karax? [checks] Wow, I actually forgot to mention Karax. I'll go fix that now.

I think essence blast got put into the same ruling as crevasse. That when the spell is cast the 6" spray must originate in the front arc of the model that is removed from play. Will look for it again.

That's a whole lot less of an issue for EB than it is for Crevasse (or Vail or Calaban's ranged attacks for that matter) since you have control over your model's facing.

[Skorne]

I found this guide very helpful. You seem to have a very good grasp of Mordikaar and the game in general. As a new player I'm trying to come up with a concrete list before I go out and buy my models. I've really liked everything about Mordikaar and want to make a 50 point army for him. I have many ideas in my head but I was wondering if you could help me with a list. If you'd be willing to help me out, you can either message me or post it on here (I offer messaging because I'll probably want to discuss it in detail and dont want to bog down your post with my noobiness.).

If you do want to help me out, here is what I'm hoping to do:

I really like the idea of throwing in a fast and early unit to clash with their forces before the actual combat begins. Initially I was thinking hallowed ferox, but you said the shadow play unit worked the same for cheaper. Would you consider running both? Maybe throwing the shadow play as fury fodder and waiting for a flank opportunity with the ferox? Also since they are so mobile maybe I could use them to take out key units deployed on the outside of the board (I've only seen a few games, but circle seems to employ that tactic a lot.) I also love their solo leader and would like to include him as well.

I also like the lore on Mordikaar and want to include two spirits. I'd do three but I think they are fa2. If I can't have a third I was thinking of adding in a feral Geist to compliment the ghost theme. Any thoughts on that minion? Actually can you tell me what to expect out of the spirits as well? Everyone says they're good with Mordikaar but no one elaborates on their capabilities.

I was thinking of including midwinter and/or markets, do you have any other thoughts on them in a Mordikaar fifty point list? I really dislike the the agonizes model, but everyone sings so much praise for him.. Is he really so valuable that I should get over my aesthetic distaste?

Will Stop now to not overwhelm you, but I have many more questions to ask and hopefully you're willing to help a wannabe tyrant out.

[gaminguy]

First off, I will suggest that you go to the sticky for general discussions and find the Mordikaar thread, there are a lot of good insights there.

For your specific questions:

- I personally would be a little leary of taking Blood Runners, Ferox, and Rhadiem in the same list; that's a whole lot of points for not very many models. Not saying it isn't viable, just that I wouldn't expect it to hold up very well.

- Void Spirits get boosted attack rolls so the don't miss much under Mordikaar and Incorporeal is a good rule, I don't own a second one because the first has yet to really impress me. The Feralgiest is filler at best, the most use I've had from one was as a charge target for the Siege Animantarax and as a Dark Rituals target for Rasheth.

- Midwinter is always good. Marketh has less to do than normal in a Mordikaar list since he can't cast Revive or Essence Blast and Mordikaar has no spells worth upkeep-cycling, I'd probably give him a pass. The Agonizer is a tool you have to commit the resources to if you want it to be worth the points, if you don't keep some Fury there it won't do anything. Proxy it for a couple of games if you really can't decide.

- If you want really good advice PM Lord Tyrant Watt. He's one of the top Skorne players on the boards, and he took Mordikaar to Gencon last year IIRC.

[Skorne]

Okay, thanks a lot for the insight and direction!

[PG_Chris Cuevas]

Excellent write up!!!! I've run his theme force only once and was curious to see what you thought of it.

[aquenaton]

sorry about bringing back this thread but I am reading it and I just noticed that there is no where the rhinodon, who is good with him because, with ghost walk, his tramples doesn´t suffer free strikes, I know that he has backplakes but ignoring them is OK with all tramplig beasts

that´s only my oppinion

[various]

Great write up buddy! Have been curious about Mordikaar for a while, so having info on him makes things a lot easier. Keep up the great work.

[gaminguy]

sorry about bringing back this thread but I am reading it and I just noticed that there is no where the rhinodon, who is good with him because, with ghost walk, his tramples doesn´t suffer free strikes, I know that he has backplakes but ignoring them is OK with all tramplig beasts

that´s only my oppinion

My stock answer on the Rhinodon is he's very good at a job that Skorne doesn't need done. We have lots of tools for infantry removal, but tend to count on beasts to do the heavy damage. Even Mordikaar (who can maximize the potential of things like Acuarii) still has more need for a heavy hitter than an infantry clearer, and the Archidon is a better Ghost Walk target for the points.

[PG_Samalefic]

My stock answer on the Rhinodon is he's very good at a job that Skorne doesn't need done.

Amen to that.

[aquenaton]

My stock answer on the Rhinodon is he's very good at a job that Skorne doesn't need done. We have lots of tools for infantry removal, but tend to count on beasts to do the heavy damage. Even Mordikaar (who can maximize the potential of things like Acuarii) still has more need for a heavy hitter than an infantry clearer, and the Archidon is a better Ghost Walk target for the points.

thank you, I am going to try a mordi list and it (all the thread) has been very useful

[Brawl977]

Any ideas on de mammoth

[Junn Khan]

Any ideas on de mammoth

Best he offers is Banishing Ward, which is golden against certain casters and meh against others. Though an fabulously high essence blast might be nice.

[Glasskin]

Given that Karax are being used to shield Mammoths, Hollowed Karax might be a good match as well.