M2E+Sanctioned+Spellcaster


 * Sanctioned Spellcaster, Guild Minion**

=__Overview__= Captured Arcanists who have managed to avoid being turned into Witchling Stalkers, the Sanctioned Spellcasters are forced to use their powers for the Guild, lest the deadly control collar fitted to them is detonated by their handlers. toc

=__Mobility__= Like their Arcanist equivalents, the Sanctioned Spellcasters are clearly bookworms who spend too much time in the library and not enough time running for their lives! A fairly standard Wk and Cg are accompanied by no movement tricks. However, their **The Collar** ability lets all friendly masters and henchmen within 8" take a (1) action to make the Spellcaster take a (1) action. This can give the Sanctioned Spellcaster a surprising breadth of actions over the course of one turn, though it's worth considering whether that ap would be put to better use using one of the master / henchman's own actions.

=__Offense__= This is what you bring the mages for! Their ranged attack has a good damage track, with a variety of excellent triggers using tomes and masks. The **Earthbound** trigger is particularly standout, preventing the target from taking charge actions for the rest of the turn.

=__Resilience__= Five wounds and Df 5 seems pretty standard for a 5ss minion. They also have the **Arcane Shield** ability, which can help them survive a little longer and is particularly useful against low-damage attacks. Since friendly masters and henchmen can make the Spellcaster take (1) actions thanks to **The Collar**, it can be quite easy to hold off activating the Spellcaster until quite late in the turn to take advantage of this ability.

=__Tactics and Tips__= Don't be afraid to throw a couple of high cards when defending if the enemy is grouping up - their **Soulburst** ability can be lethal if it gets to a high enough value, and will net you a soulstone for each model it kills as well. On the other hand, do remember that - unlike other explosive models - **Soulburst** is not optional, so be careful of where your Spellcaster is in relation to other friendly models once you start stacking the condition!

If your opponent has brought models with various push effects (such as Rotten Belles), their (0) action is a great counter to this.

As they're minions, they work well alongside both Lucius (who can push them around) and Lady Justice, since they'll benefit from her **Inspiring Swordplay**.

Sandeep Desai can also hire Sanctioned Spellcasters (Liberated Spellcasters, perhaps?) into the Arcanists via his **Unaligned Sage** upgrade since they have the Academic keyword.

Maybe not a strong combo, but a fun one, is using Lust with two Sanctioned Spellcasters, and a bunch of henches. Basically, early on, Lust takes a double defensive stance. Then you pump a lot of actions through the SS, to make them all attack Lust with their close attack. The point is to 1. get cards from lust, by sniping out the tomes, and 2. building up soulburst. If you are feeling protective of lust, you can bring a guardian to heal Lust when she gets banged up.

=__Playing Against Sanctioned Spellcasters__= If you can, wait until the Sanctioned Spellcaster has activated before attacking her to avoid her **Arcane Shield** ability. It's best to try and put her down in one or two attacks to avoid giving her too much time to power up the control collar. Despite what you might think, it's better to engage her at range where they can't explode and damage you if she dies.

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