M2E+Mature+Nephilim

==
 * Mature Nephilim, Neverborn Enforcer**

toc

=__Overview__=

The Mature Nephilim is a huge, meaty beatstick with an incredible mobility and gratuitous damage potential. As the third tier of the basic Nephilim it is the apex of their killing potential and a true murder machine. It also has a number of other tactical uses and tricks with its ability to push enemy models and create a large pulse of Horror Duels.

The Mature Nephilim is most often found in a Lilith Crew. It's expensive to hire at 11 Soulstones, but if you need to kill something it'll earn its pay. You can also summon them by getting a Young Nephilim to **Mature** through the Rapid Growth Upgrade.

=__Mobility__=

The Mature Nephilim is incredibly fast with its **Wk 6, Cg 8** and **Flight.** It also has a melee reach of 2", which considering their main function of killing, makes their threat range incredible.

They can go even further if you need them to, due to the //Charge Through// Trigger on their **Monstrous Talons**. It allows them to push the target out of the way and then **Charge** another valid target. With enough tomes you can continue to use this Trigger and keeping charging new targets, which means you can get to the other side of the board and back if the cards fall right.

=__Offense__=

The Mature Nephilim has a very scary **Monstrous Talons** Attack, with a reach of 2", a **Ml 6** mask with a built-in positive twist, and a massive 4/5/6 damage. But wait, there's more. Once in position, they can **Flurry** to get three attacks and all but guarantee a dead target.

If you can't **Flurry**, don't worry (but do rhyme) because you have two Triggers that you can get a lot of use out of. //C////harge Through// turns the Attack into a maneuvering trick that can also generate extra attacks. You don't do damage; instead you push the target 4" away and **Charge** a new target instead if able. If used wisely, this can be a way to move enemies out of position and/or into **Pounce** while also getting to **Charge** a model that thought it was safely out of range. Don't forget that you'll get two attacks at the end of the charge, so it's possible to turn this one AP into multiple free attacks. Because of this, you can chain these charges together and ping-pong your away across the board. It's very tome intensive, but in the right situation you can **Charge**, Attack once, //Charge Through//, attack a new target once, //Charge Through// at a new (or the original) target ... rinse and repeat. You'll only really want to do this if you need to get a sniper that thinks it is safe, especially if the sniper is on an elevation that prevents it from getting backup.

The other trigger, //Rip in Half//, is a little more straightforward. If you kill the target then all enemy models in a 6" pulse do a Horror Duel. It's a nice celebratory piece of candy after killing a model but not normally of much use. It's probably only going to affect one or two models, so you'd rarely want to cheat for it. Against swarm crews like Ramos or Som'er, however, it could make your opponent choose between depleting their hand or letting a lot of minions get **Paralyzed**. It's also going to burn through a lot of their fate deck, hopefully without letting them reshuffle.

The Mature Nephilim also has a tactical action to move enemies out of position, **Wing Buffet**. It just pushes away all enemy models within 4". No resist. Away you go. As a direct offense it's another way to push enemies out of **Rooted** or into **Pounce**, hazardous terrain, or Lilith for some additional damage. Defensively, it can free up the Mature to move out of engagement without having to risk losing against a disengaging strike. Tactically, it can be used to push models out of key locations and prevent them from scoring VP. That's especially useful late in the Turn when your opponent won't have a chance to react.

=__Resilience__=

You might that think with all their defensive abilities the Mature Nephilim would have a lot of resilience. After all, they've got **Armor +1** and **Terrifying (Living) 12** and **Black Blood** and **Wd 10** and **Wp 6** and mobility and look cool. But don't be fooled! They //are not// tanks. They //are// fragile.

With only **Df 4**, they will get hit. A lot. Easily. They're a big, scary looking model that has massive damage potential. Your opponent will go after it and will kill it. All those defensive abilities are just there as a speed bump – a way to make it cost a few extra resources for your opponent. When a player kills a Mature they're likely to be giddy with smug satisfaction as you remove it from the table. But that's okay. It's not a question of whether you kept it alive or not. It's a question of whether you caused enough havoc with it before it went down – and if you were able to turn that destruction into VP.

=__Upgrades__=

=Obsidian Talons= Gives all your Nephilim //Flay// on their melee attacks. All the Nephilim have higher than average med/high damage, so being able to cheat despite negative twists can be deadly. Putting this Upgrade on a Mature frees up a slot Lillith, Barbaros, or Nekima that can be better used on other things, but it also means you're going to lose the Upgrade when the Mature dies (which it almost certainly will).

=**Rapid Growth**= What's better than one Mature Nephilim? Two (or more) Mature Nephilim! This Upgrade helps Terror Tots turn into Young Nephilim and Young Nephilim turn into Mature Nephilim. As an iconic part of the Nephilim playstyle, this Upgrade is the only way you can summon a Mature once the fight starts, which can completely change the momentum of a game. Most grow lists, however, tend to prefer starting with more Tots and working towards a Mature. And just like **Obsidian Talons**, if Mature dies you lose the upgrade. Losing **Rapid Growth**, though, means you've completely lost the ability to summon a Mature. Therefore, it's normally better to put this on another model like Lilith, Barbaros, Angel Eyes, or Lilitu.

=**Retribution's Eye**= Having their damage ignore **Armor** might be a little overkill, but if you're expecting to face a lot of constructs it could be worth it. For one additional SS you could make short work of Joss, Lazarus, a Peacekeeper, or a Rail Golem – all of which are normally a pretty hefty nuisance.

=**The Mimic's Blessing**= An unexpected addition. The negative twists can give the Mature a little more survivability by denying your opponent the ability to cheat, but their low **Df** is still problematic. On the other hand, getting a Mature into melee is imperative so anything that helps achieve that is welcome. Additionally, Mature has a target on its face and is most likely going to get killed, so filtering out some cards when he does is almost like spending that stone on the draw anyway.

=__Tactics and Tips__=

The Mature is a perfect example of the old adage, "The best defense is a good offense." They're best taken when your Strat/Scheme setup is combat heavy – Reckoning, Assassinate, Make them Suffer, Kill Protege, etc. But they're less useful if you're worried about positioning or laying down Markers – Reconnoiter, Line in the Sand, Plant Evidence, etc. So only hire one if you think you'll be able to get 11 SS worth of death and destruction out of it.

In the case of something like Turf War, however, they can work the sweet spot of killing and being tricky. You can use their **Wing Buffet** to push enemies out of positioning at the end of the Turn and deny your opponent some VP. This can be even more effective if you **Obey** them to do it, so you can still spend their AP on what they're best at – MDK.


 * Wing Buffet** can also be used to get an insane number of free attacks if you have enough friendly models with **Pounce** nearby. Remember that pushing a model will trigger an attack from each model in range.

With so many **Wd**, the Mature Nephilim can also be a great target for **Black Blood Pustule** from Lilith or a Black Blood Shaman. Just remember that it's only a 1" pulse, so you'll need to get closer to your targets than usual. And each **Wd** you do to them will chip away at an already fragile model.

=__Playing Against Mature Nephilim__=

Traditional attacks work excellently against the Mature Nephilim, especially if you're using non-Living models who don't need to worry about its **Terrifying**.

Watch out for its **Wing Buffet**. There's no resist duel and it can be used to generate extra attacks or just straight up deny you VP at the last minute.


 * __Ownership__ **

Unless otherwise stated, all names and images on this site are property of Wyrd Miniatures, LLC. ([|Link])