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Warlord H0urg1ass’ Guide to Maiming/Killing Uniques

I put this little guide together just for my own reference but then I decided to share it with everyone. Hopefully, everyone, especially the newbies, will find a good use for this.

I purposefully left out both the Hierophant and the Storm Golem because they usually aren’t faced as a single unit. Stormie is almost always accompanied by other units and the Hierophant is also usually flanked. There are already a few threads on how to best destroy them.

It is my opinion that most players lean heavily on their uniques. It is for this reason that I attempt to kill or maim them as quickly as possible. This, in most cases, is just as psychologically damaging to them as it is strategically damaging to them.

However, this does not supersede the first rule of MK tactical combat which is: Maim/Kill the support units first!

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Troll Chieftain

When facing this baddie remember one thing in particular: Avoid base to base contact with him.

If you just can’t avoid being in base to base with him, then remember one other thing: NEVER do exactly four clicks of damage to him. Because of his toughness, the damage will be reduced to three clicks. This puts him right on his first click of Berserk and you will be facing a hellacious creature that has an attack of 12 and a damage of 5.

AFTER you have made sure that you don’t end up with him on his first click of berserk, keep in mind that his 7th and 8th click of damage are both regeneration slots. Don’t let him land on these if at all possible. Keep him on that 6th click until you have enough firepower to drop him.

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Wraith

This baddie is very difficult to face in nearly any situation. Odds are VERY good that anyone using a Wraith will be using hindering terrain to cover her.

Best strategy: Draw her out of hindering terrain in any way that you see fit. Your first objective after getting her to come out of hindering terrain is to smack her for 3 points of damage. This will put her on an equal movement footing with the rest of your troops (8” movement range).

From this point on, stay just outside of her puny 8” range and drop her with a longer ranged sniper. Don’t depend on magic blast to help you out—she NEVER loses magic immunity. Avoid close combat unless you have a great defense or are sure you will be able to get the first strike in.

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Paladin Prince

Most people are using this character in a game for two reasons: non-magical healing and/or command.

• After 3 clicks of damage: healing is gone
• After 5 clicks of damage: command is gone AND magic immunity is gone

After that he’s pretty easy to take down.

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Necromancer

If you see this thing in an army, then the chances are real good that there’s gonna be lots of zombies and skeletons.

If this is the case, take the Necro out as SOON as possible. Because of the necromancy ruling about the victory conditions, it won’t matter how many points you make against them—they will still win if they are able to outnumber and destroy/capture/demoralize you.

Concentrate all firepower on that Necromancer.

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Amazon Queen

What can I say? Every single slot has an SA.

My most favorable strategy: Wait until she has taken an action and move something with either a good range or magic blast BEHIND her. If she wishes to confront your piece, then she’ll have to spend another action turning.

Then push your character to make sure you do three clicks of damage to her. She loses all of her SAs but gains battle fury. From that point on, just make sure that she doesn’t get the chance to heal and she won’t bother you much more.

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Magus

If he has a figure in contact with his base at the end of your opponent’s turn, follow this three step plan:

1. Check to see the movement range on all of the figures touching his base
2. Check to see the ranged attacks of all of the units touching his base
3. Add these two distances to 10”

Take the larger number and make sure that your most vulnerable characters are outside of that range at all times. Then put expendable units just within range of the figure that is going to be ML’d.

If the player makes the mistake of ML’ing to attack them, then just move your fastest pieces to flank Magus. He becomes almost worthless after ONLY three clicks of damage. In my personal experience, he is also an easy unit to capture with something like a *** Shade.

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Order Of Vladd

This guy is a close combat monster. As with most figures, the best way to take him out is with ranged units.

Make sure that you do at least three damage to him. This drops him from a 5 damage to a 3 damage. This ALSO opens him up to MB attacks.

Another reason to stay out of b2b combat: his vampirism (which he has at EVERY click after the 3rd) will keep him in better shape than your own warrior, especially if you are matching hits fairly equally.

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Dwarven Jarl

Avoid b2b combat initially. Hit him for 4 clicks and his Weapon Mastery will disappear.

This character is also the slowest unique on the battlefield—his starting movement rate is a measly 6”. This means that flanking him will be no problem.

Don’t bother trying to use any type of MB attack or ME attacks against him, because his MI doesn’t go away until his very last slot of health. Also, don’t bother trying to capture him after he has taken 4 clicks of damage.

Don’t underestimate his firepower. He starts doing only 3 clicks of damage, but it never gets any lower.

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Magus Draconum

This guy is one tough bastard.

Best approach: Stay outside of his firing arc and then move in and do at least 3 clicks of damage. This will drop his attack down to a 9, which isn’t very good considering he can’t be healed through magical means.

Once you have done 5 total clicks of damage to him, try to get in the last 4 clicks as soon as possible. This is because his MI goes away and he will be subject to magical healing.

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Elemental Priest

Added by DMKY

When you see this awesome supporter, you will probably see trolls with him. The best way to take this out is to flank it, since he won’t have much more to his army if you’re lucky.

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Chaos Mage

Added by DMKY

Piece of cake—just shoot the thing. Chances are, an SA will appear that your opponent didn’t want, and if you can get him to his MI stage, he’s done. Just watch out for healers and orcs to fling.

Pro tip: To really beat this guy you should know what he does on each click. This will let you steer clear of his scarier abilities like necromancy and fire/lightning.

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Magna Draconum

Added by DMKY

One TOUGH dragon—the exact same starting stats as Stormie number-wise, and only 60 points. The downside is he has to melee.

If you can get in the first hit, great. He can fly away, heal, and try again. If not, good luck. It’s better to avoid him and range him.

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Mystic Draconum

Added by DMKY

I pass this guy off as a joke in 200 pointers. He is easy to kill if you have a high attacking unit. Be careful of his flight though—he can evac quickly.

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Neophant

Added by DMKY

Heh, this should be “How DON’T you kill a Neophant?” If you see this dragon, expect him to be capturing, decoying, or distracting.

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—Warlord H0urg1ass and DMKY