Steampunk+Abomination

toc //"Chaotic creatures of a madman, these Abominations assimilate their victims to multiply. They are a cancer, malignant and spreading if ignored and left to their own insane devices."//
 * Steampunk Abomination, Outcast Minion**

=__Overview__= The creations of Leveticus' twisted magic, the Steampunk Abominations (or SPA's) are both abomindable constructs and twisted undead wretchs that drain the life-force of their victims to "repair/heal" themselves, and assimilate their fallen foes into fellow freaks. Should enough of these abominations group together, they can combine to form one of most dangerous creations in Malifaux, the Desolation Engine. So while individually weak they are certainly not helpless.

This article is written with the assumption that SPA's are being taken with Leveticus for a Master as they are very rarely ever taken with any other Master.

=__Mobility__= They have a low Wk/Cg of 4/6, coupled with //Hobbled// (which only lets them take 1 general Movement Action an activation) you may think they are quite slow. On their own, your very correct, they are very slow. A lone SPA will take several turns to get into position and most likely will be of little use to you. But they are not without a way to compensate for this.

Keep Pace
This is how SPA's make it down field and compensate for //Hobbled//. You cluster them up, putting them all in B2B with one of one SPA who then takes a Walk action and brings the rest up. You push the others to the front, because it's a Push into B2B and not a Push Dirrectly into B2B so you can push to any place in contact with the moving SPA's base (see illustration below). When done correctly, you can move 4 (4 because this is how many you need for //Concentrated Deformation//) of them 12" a turn ending them all back in B2B with one of them.

__Note__: This ability was changed when their V2 card was released to only function on friendly SPA's and not any construct.



=__Offense__= SPA's themselves are not terribly strong on the offensive end of things, possessing only a Cb 3 attack they don't hit that often. Though their Severe Damage is a respectible 4, that low CB comes back to haunt them. Simply, don't rely on them to do damage themselves. In a pinch, they can certainly slug it out if needed but you should be more focused on getting into position for //Concentrated Deformation//.

Caustic Aura
Often overlooked and forgotten, this Ability is perhaps the best offensive ability on the SPA's. Df 9 duel may not seem like a lot, but consider the average Df is 5ish, they need at least a 4 to succeed and by the Start Closing Phase your opponents hand is going to be rather empty. If you can get multiple enemy models in 3" of even 1 SPA, that's several duels they will have to take. Now if you get 2 or 3 SPA's within the 3" range of multiple enemy models, that quickly becomes a lot of duels. Sure they have a better then 70% chance of passing these duels on average, but 2 damage adds up quick and every bit helps. Especially if you get a valuable model in range that can't afford to take the damage, you'll be suprised how many 11+ cards this forces players to use because it's all they have left and where saving it.

This can easily be used both offensively and defensively (as a deterrent). Offensively, your looking to get as many enemy models in range of this Pulse as possible to generate the maximum number of duels and thus increase your chances of someone failing. Defensively it's not as effective as your relying on your opponent percieving it as a big enough threat not end up within 3" of them during the Closing Phase, but it's good to be aware of this. Overlaping the aura from several SPA's will make it quite hazerdeous to end up to close to them, as one Df 9 duel is generally not a problem, but 3 or 4 could easily become one.

__Note:__ If a model is in range of multiple SPA's Caustic Aura's, they have to take the Duel for every Caustic Aura they are in range of.

Consuming Touch
Luckily they have the required suit built right into their CB, so all you have to do is worry about hitting the enemy (which is no easy feat with CB 3). While SPA's only have 3 Wds, Hard to Wound 1 helps them on average live through the first hit and Consuming Touch will help you touch up those lost Wds. This is especially important if you plan on using that SPA for //Concentrated Deformation// as any Wds on your SPA's used for that will transfer onto your Desolation Engine.

Desolate Warping
Extremely useful as a "last hit" option. This means when you get an enemy model to low Wds (generaly 1 Wd left is the safest bet), you leave it alive and have your SPA move in for the kill, looking for this Trigger. Yes, Leveticus or the Desolation Engine are a better choice for a more reliable... conversion of a model into an SPA, but you don't always have them available. So it's good to keep this in the back of your mind as a "just in case".

__Note:__ This will still summon a model even if the killed model in question doesn't leave Corpse/Scrap Counters (for whatever reason). The model is not required to leave Counters for this Trigger to work. Only if something prevent models from being summoned (say on a model's death etc) would the SPA not be summoned.

__Note Vs Slow to Die:__ The SPA would be summoned AFTER the //Slow to Die// Action. //Slow to Die// essentially puts the model's death on hold and only after it's action is it killed and effects like //Desolate Warping// and Counter generation are resolved.

=__Resilience__= SPA's are certainly not the first model you think of when you think "resilient", but they are still no push over. They have an average Wp of 5, a Low Df of 4 but //Hard to Wound 1// helps offset this. //Hard to Wound 1// is often highly underrated as it does nothing to help you not be hit, and thats completely true you will be hit. But Hard to Wound helps mitigate the damage you would take and helps the SPA's survive that first hit by increasing the chance of a Weak Damage Flip.

**Anomaly**
This is what the SPA's do with their second Ap while moving up the field. Take your time as you move your SPA's up field (especially when they are clustered) and keep an eye out for models with Ranged Attacks (this includes Spells with the Gun Symbol which make them Ranged Attack Spells). Make sure to place your SPA's that have already used this Action in the way of the potential threat, hiding the rest of your SPA's to the best of your ability. Remember that //Anomaly// won't slide off them when they Push (ex: via Keep Pace), only when they perform an Action other then Pass.

=__Tips and Tricks__= The main trick to the SPA's is learning how to maximize their mobility through careful use of //Keep Pace// and timing your use of //Concentrated Deformation//.

Concentrated Deformation
This is what you really bring SPA's for, creating the Desolation Engine. Often people wonder, why don't I just bring a Desolation Engine? While the answer is 2 fold. The first part is the SPA's doing their spiral up the board are faster and harder to hit (due to 2 higher Df, and Ht 1). The second part is, //Unstable Creation// on the Desolation Engine bleeds it 1Wd every non-zero action it performs so that by the time it reached melee, it would be nearly dead.

There are a few commonly confused/questoined points about this action. The first is that the Desolation Engine does indeed replace all these models, but only gets the remaining Ap from the active model. He __does not__ get the remaining Ap from all 4 Spa's. Secondly, you do indeed transfer all effects from all 4 SPA's onto the newly created Desolation Engine. Things includes //Anomaly//, //Poison//, //Burnout//, etc. It's not uncommon to have a Desolation Engine appear with //Burnout//, Anomaly, and //Blessing of Desolation// on it; making it quite the dangerous model.

Warped
Not much to this ability, but it's always worth remember that you can drop either type of counter on this models death. So when going against crews that make good use of Scrap Counters you may wish to drop Corpse Counters and vice versa. In general, you want to drop Scrap Counters because that is what Leveticus' //Entropic Transformations// and Rusty Alyce's //Willful Animation// need to create more SPA's. So often times you will be droping the Scrap Counters, as there are more models that make use (and more powerful use) of Corpse Counters then their are Scrap Counters.

= = =__Master-Specific Tips__=

__Leveticus Specific Tips__
The main thing to remember when bringing SPA's with Leveticus is that he can and most likely will make more of them. This means you don't have to worry to much about losing 1 or 2 of them during a game, Leveticus can easily help you recoup your losses and get you back up the golden 4.

Otherwise, you have access to a large variety of Minions which can help your SPA's along in various ways. Some minions (such as Belle's and Steampunk Arachnids) can lower an enemy's defense, making it easier to hit and get Desolate Warping to make more SPA's. Others (such as Rusty Alyce) provide great support and can help make your Desolation Engine even more deadly when it comes time to form it.

=__Minion-Specific Tips__=

__Rusty Alyce__
Alyce, like Leveticus, can produce more SPA's but unlike Levticus it's at a rather hefty cost of 2 Control cards. Even still, if you have some low cards in your hand and it's near the end of the turn, burn them for //Willful Animation// and get another SPA onto the field.

Also, this is more for the Desolation Engine they will form, //Burnout// is a fantastic spell to use on them. You use it on an SPA and have it do it's activation. Let another SPA move the group forward and use //Concentrated Deformation// to create the Desolation Engine. //Burnout// carry's over to the Desolation Engine and since the SPA had not activated a second time, the Desolation Engine can make use of the //Reactivate//.

=__Playing Against Steampunk Abomination__= SPA's are not all that tough or dangerous, but they are absolutely worth your full attention because of the Desolation Engine they can bring forth. Picking them off at ranged is going to be tough because of their Ht 1 (making it easy to hide) and //Anomaly//, so it's generally easier to take them out in melee. Just we aware of Caustic Aura, as mentioned above it isn't much problem for 1 model but if you get a group to close or end up near to many SPA's, it can quickly cause your downfall.

Because they have to clump to make use of //Keep Pace//, Area Effects (Blasts, Pulses, Aura's etc) are often the best way to go. You can easily get all 4 of them under 1 Blast if they are fully clumped up. Generally, your opponent won't be foolish enough to give you a good shot at them while they are together like that. So some times patience is the key, waiting till they start moving together for //Concentrated Deformation// and then getting them all at once. But at the same time, don't be afraid to pick off one ot two here and there. They need 4 of them to make the Desolation Engine, so as long as you can keep them at 3 or below, you don't have to much to fear from them. Just keep an eye on where they are in relation to Scrap Counters (because Leveticus and Alyce can summon more of them from the counters) and you should do fine.

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