Ice+Golem

== toc
 * Ice Golem, Arcanist Minion**

=__Overview__= This big brother of Rasputina's constructs, the Ice Golem is big, slow, tough, and hits relatively hard. He brings with him the standard tools of a December construct: //Frozen Heart, Bite of Winter, Shatter, Armor, Statue//, and //Sub Zero//. His biggest drawback, and the source of the lack of respect from most players, is the 9 Soulstone cost.

=__Mobility__= With a 3" Walk, nobody's going to be betting on the Ice Golem to win any foot races. He's slow, and as such needs to be used to anchor the center of a force. Combined with a standard 2" melee range, the 6" charge gives him a respectable threat range, but still nothing that would be considered hugely impressive.

=__Offense__= The Golem's primary combat strength lies in his melee combat. With a general assumption that he'll be present in a Rasputina crew with plenty of Bite of Winter sources, the base 6 Cb and 4/4/7 damage spread can dish out some serious hurt. With the extra damage potential from //Shatter 3//, you'll rarely regret getting the Golem stuck in. The //Icy Burst// ranged attack seems like something of a consolation prize, with lower Cb, lower damage, and limited benefit from //Bite of Winter//. The blasts can be somewhat useful, but realistically if you need blasts you're going to be looking to Rasputina herself rather than the Golem.

Whether ranged or melee, the //Chills// trigger improves the Golem's combat capabilities. Automatically dishing out Slow to anything you hit (remember, the trigger only applies to the direct target, not anything caught by blasts) can easily frustrate opponents. //December's Sigh// is far more situational, both because it requires the extra Crow in the result and there are few situations where reducing a target's movement will be as good as making him Slow. Both triggers have the advantage of lasting through the target's next activation, making a late activation by the Golem less of a drawback than it is for many models.

=__Resilience__= The Golem's toughness is something of a mixed bag. 9 wounds is high for a minion, but not insurmountable. //Armor +2// certainly makes him soak up the damage, but many attackers can overwhelm the 2 points of absorption granted. And while Sub Zero can be very effective at stopping chain attack triggers such as //Onslaught//, it can also be easy for a normal attacker to bypass. With all of this combined with an impressively bad Df 2 means that despite //Armor//, //Sub Zero//, and a big wound pool the Golem can be relatively fragile.

//Statue// can help the toughness problem, but only at the cost of nearly all offense or mobility. Requiring a (1) action makes this a questionable choice for defense, although the Golem's already-low Df means there is less drawback to it than there is for some other models, such as the Ice Gamin.

Because it is ALMOST really tough, the Golem can easily be pushed over the top with a bit of minor assistance, mainly from Rasputina. December's Touch turns Armor +2 into Armor +4, meaning you're far more likely to absorb only a single damage point to the hit, and the cover provided by White Out can make even Df 2 manageable, thanks to the negative twist to ranged attack flips.

=__Tips and Tricks__= The Ice Golem is a relatively straightforward model, without many tricks, but he does have a few creative uses.

Statue prevents all movement by the Golem. This can be used to keep him from being used against you via Obey, or to stop him from being drawn in by the Lilitu chain Lure.

=__Master-Specific Tips__=

Rasputina
The Golem works best with Rasputina. As mentioned previously, her buffs can compensate for his somewhat fragile nature, turning him into an anchor for your entire line, while the standard set of icy construct abilities benefit her (and the other models in her crew) more than most.

Especially if he's near death, the Golem can be a great target for Rasputina's December's Curse when in combat with hard-to-hit opponents. His height means he'll get two cards, and his low Df means that if he takes the hit you can easily get the positive twist on the damage flip. If you take the extra action to add the armor from December's Touch (perhaps via a totem casting) then he'll be taking only one or two points of damage, while generating blast markers which will do considerably more. And if he does die in the process, and additional 3 or 4 damage from the Shatter can wreak considerable havoc.

=__Minion-Specific Tips__=

Icy Constructs
The Golem has the standard set of icy construct synergy abilities, specifically //Bite of Winter//, and benefits from them accordingly. Especially given the persistence of the combat triggers //Chills// and //December's Sigh//, it's typically well worth deferring the Golem's activation until later in the turn when you can be sure that you can have an Ice Gamin close enough to support the attack.

Snowstorm
Snow Storm provides the Ice Golem with a stunning improvement in mobility. //Form Ice//, combined with Snow Storm's own mobility, gives the Golem a potential 14" move during Snow Storm's activation, making the total threat range 22". Even if this maximum isn't realistic in most cases, it's enough that this slingshot can throw the normally-slow Golem into the thick of the action in a flash. This can move the rest of your crew 6" as well. Unfortunately, the combo of Snow Storm and the Golem weighs in at a staggering 20 Soulstones, making it a difficult investment.

Silent One
The Silent One's abilities all play to enhancement of the icy constructs, and the Golem benefits from them more than most. //North Wind// will increase the range of //Icy Burst// to an impressive 11", potentially hitting targets as far out as 15" with a good set of blasts. The combined healing/damage from //Ice Wind// can be used to support a Golem engaged in melee, which can be especially beneficial for the Golem, whose biggest threat is typically a large number of low-damage attacks. Healing 1 wound doesn't seem like much, but that's one more hit the opponent has to inflict.

=__Playing Against Ice Golem__= The Ice Golem's great Achilles Heel is its speed. With a 3" movement, a number of crews can outmaneuver it.

If forced to engage it, anything that gets around its armor will pretty much mean the death of the Golem. Either models that ignore armor outright, or swarm attacks that do low enough damage anyway so as to not care about the armor, will turn it to ice cubes in a hurry.

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