Avatar+Nicodem

toc
 * Nicodem, Resurrectionist Avatar of Decay**

==

=Overview=

The zombie king, the Avatar of Decay takes pleasure it being carried aloft by his undead minions while summoning more mindless zombies to his bidding. Nicodem has traded his broad summoning abilities to focus exclusively on raising masses of Mindless Zombies, and empowering them into savage sword-weilding punks. When his horde is of a significant amount, he drowns his opponents in a massive wave of undead that rips them to shreds.

=Manifesting= Nicodem's requirements are:

1) Kill two enemy models with Decay 2) Summon 3 Mindless Zombies using "arise"

To try to complete the first requirement on the first turn, send a Vulture up the field on your first turn to act as Nicodem's Eyes and Ears. Then have Nicodem cast Decay three times (with Casting Expert) on a pair of clustered enemies. Provided you flip a 10 each time (suit irrelevant), you will cast it successfully and hopefully kill off a pair of minions to complete the first requirement. This is usually his more difficult manifest requirement as your opponent will be direclty opposing your attacks forcing you to burn high cards and probably soulstones.

The second requirement is fairly easy, but don't forget since Arise is a Pulse it doesn't affect Corpse Counters carried by Nicodem, and he can't use corpse counters carried by other models. Mortimer can give you a free corpse each turn, provided you can flip or cheat a crow to get it. If you want to manifest as early as possible, simply add in three (or more!) Canine Remains/Desperate Mercenaries to your list which you will kill yourself on turn 1, allowing Nicodem to activate after they are dead and complete the second manifest requirement on turn 1. Once he's finished casting Arise! he can go ahead and Reanimator one or more of them into a more powerful undead minion to suit his purposes.

Nicodem's bread and butter spells, Rigor Mortis and Decay stay with him after manifesting, so he doesn't always need to rush to manifest.


 * Note**: If you want to help Nicodem manifest early, you can use a Nurse to give him a massive dose of Speed (manifesting on his reactivation removes the Speed effect that would otherwise sacrifice him)

=Mobility= Nicodem was always a bit slow due to his crippled leg. Now, being carried by his loyal and mindless subjects he has gained a notable speed boost. Now with **Wk** 4, he also gains +1" to his Walk for each MZ in base contact with him at the start of his activation (thus, if he starts an activation with 6 MZ's in base contact, he can move up to 10" per Walk action!). If your strategies/schemes require some speed you may want to get him manifested sooner rather than later.

That being said, this really shouldn't be used too frequently. The Avatar of Decay should never go too far away from his escort of undead to use as a meat-shield. Even so, being able to race across the field in one motion can have its benefits, especially if he can raise a new entourage immediately on arriving at his new destination (capable with his Mass Grave ability).

One other feature of the Avatar of Decay's mobility is that Mindless Zombies do not obstruct him. He can quickly move through a horde to safety if needed.

=Offense= Nicodem rarely got himself involved in close-combat, and his Avatar-state remains the same. Even so he has recieved a notable boost from before. His range and damage have all increased by +1, and he gains paired and Magical - making it somewhat more appealing to use in close-combat should he be unable to cast Decay (from being tied up in Melee). It also now comes with Rot if it is flipped with a Crow, which isn't to be relied on but can still offer a nasty bite all the same when it occurs. More than likely, his first response to being in combat is still to Rigor Mortis his opponent and leave combat so that he can continue blasting with Decay.
 * Melee**

The Avatar of Decay retains the main spells of his former self, as well as his (+1) Casting Expert. This allows him to continue to Paralyze enemies with Rigor Mortis and rot them with Decay. He can still putrefy his victims if he casts Decay with a 7+ Mask card, allowing him to retain his card cycling and card control abilities. He loses the Empty Vessel trigger that turns living/undead he kills with Decay into Mindless Zombies, but Restless Dead and Mass Grave make up for it.
 * Spells**

Avatar Nicodem's main power however comes from the massive Zombie horde he now commands and summons from beneath the earth.

Sadly, the Avatar of Decay loses Nicodem's (0) Bolster the Undead ability. He does gain the **(1) Heed my Wishes** spell, which gives all MZ's within 10" +2(crow) Cb (letting them hit a little more often and auto-trigger Empty Vessel), and +1**Dg**, It will give your Mindless Zombies that little bit of extra hitting power that can make a big difference once he has a lot of these guys around.

Avatar Nicodem has truly become the Zombie king. His powers revolve predominately on utilizing Mindless Zombies to their full effect. In fact, all Mindless Zombies within 10" of the Avatar of Decay are no longer Neutral, Mindless, or are considered Walking Dead (No more L.J's last rites, no more enemy graverobbers sacrificing your Mindless Zombies, etc).
 * Summoning**

With Restless Dead, when a corpse counter is placed on the table within 6" of Nicodem, he can place a Mindless Zombie in base contact with the counter and then discard the counter. This includes corpse counters carried by models that are killed who then drop them within 6" (they all become Mindless Zombies), but the one exception is that a Mindless Zombie that dies within 6" of Avatar Nicodem drops a Corpse Counter and is just dead (a MZ does not spawn another MZ).

Avatar Nicodem can further boost or replenish his Mindless Zombie numbers using (0) Mass Grave. Its important to note the flip cannot be cheated (it's not a Duel and doesn't state that it can be cheated). With a full deck you have about 38% chance of summoning 0-1 zombies, 38% chance to summon 2 zombies, and 24% chance to summon 3-4 zombies. There's good odds at getting at least 2 new zombies per action, but if you can time it right after you've flipped a big string of low cards to improve your chances then all the better.

Avatar Nicodem can no longer summon his broad range of undead options, but has instead gained the ability to enhance his Mindless Zombies into groups of psychotic Punk Zombies. (0) Enhance the Dead allows him to convert 2 Mindless Zombies into their Samurai State for an 8+ Crow (though it is possible to create 3 Punk Zombies at once by using a soulstone and flipping a third crow card). Ideally this action is used when there are Mindless Zombies engaged in combat nearby so that the summoned Punk Zombies (Slow from being Summoned) can start attacking that turn without having to move into position.

It is always a delicate balance choosing between (0) Mass Grave and (0) Enhance the Dead. Mindless zombies alone won't win the game for you but you need some around for protection at the very least. Also, a dead Mindless Zombie is a corpse counter that Avatar Nicodem cannot use himself; by using Enhance the Dead Nicodem brings out Punk Zombies who will fight and then die and become Mindless Zombies once more. Hiring Minions who can help bring more Mindless Zombies into the game (namely Rafkin and/or Mortimer) can allow Nicodem to focus on cranking out Punk Zombies with Enhance the Dead.

=Resilience= The Avatar of Decay is not that much different to his mortal form. Other than gaining +1 Wp, his stats remain the same. Fortunately he also retains his 'meat shield' ability to redirect any successful attack fired at him to a nearby MZ - sacrificing it for the greater good (i.e.: Keeping Nicodem alive... uh... dead... undead... whatever). He gets a bit more mileage out of Zombie Fodder now that most corpse counters dropped within 6" automatically become Mindless Zombies, and he has the ability to summon more each turn. Don't rely on Mass Grave alone to keep your MZ numbers up however, a couple of bad turns only summoning 1 MZ can put him at great risk. A backup MZ-creating minion (Rafkin/Mortimer) is a well worth considering for Avatar Nicodem.

Nicodem also retains his Hard to Wound 1 which will further make it difficult to take him down.

=Soulstones= Mindless Zombies should keep Avatar Nicodem pretty safe from direct attacks, but Soulstones can be useful in reducing damage when he gets hit by enemy blasts. It's also nice to have a healthy cache so that you can power through a timely Decay or Rigor Mortis when needed.

=Tricks and Tips= Hang on to your Tomes for use by Nicodem when casting Decay to trigger Putrefy.

=Avatar and their Crew= To get Nicodem to his Avatar state more quickly, take a Nurse. She will be able to heal him with Surgery if he takes too many hits, and if Nicodem becomes slow for a turn it won't matter too much. He still retains his Casting Expert afterall.

Mortimer, Nicodem's faithful servant, is certainly recommended to come along for the ride. He can dig up corpses to help continue increasing the growing the Zombie Horde, and can help move the Horde by directing them forward with "Fresh Meat" (note the movement is optional and can be *up to* each friendly model's walk, so Nicodem will not be forced to outpace his bodyguard). Having Mortimer use "Zombie Companion" on Nicodem can also help some unison between master and servant.

You may want to hire some Canine remains and/or Desperate Mercenaries, just so they can drop dead and be raised as Mindless Zombies to fulfill Nicodem's Manifest requirements. Similarly you could take a Vulture to give you a decent sniper-shot for your Decay effect to fulfill the other manifest requirement while keeping Nicodem safely away from harm.

Bete Noir remains a very appealing minion for the Resurectionists, even if she is a little costly. Chances are your opponent will need to kill a few MZ's, or your MZ's will kill a few of them. Plenty of opportunity for Bete Noir to make her presence on the field.

=Playing Against the Avatar of Decay=

Blasts are Nicodem's bane. Nicodem likes to have Mindless Zombies within 2" so that he can sacrifice them to cancel hits on himself, but these same zombies are also within one blast marker of Nicodem. Nicodem will not be able to re-direct or negate blast damage done to him (as the attack wasn't targeting him). With a few well placed blasts, its quite possible to take down the Necro-Lord or at least thin out/wipe out his mindless zombie shield. Once the shield is down you can focus on Nicodem who, while **Hard to Wound** 1, is still only **Df** 3.

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