Desolation+Engine


 * Desolation Engine, Outcast Minion** toc

=__Overview__= Another creation of Leveticus' twisted magic, the Desolation Engine is a nigh unstoppable force of destruction and carnage. It's existence is short lived, the magics which created it are unstable and with each motion it slowly decays and falls apart, eventually ejecting a pair of Steampunk Abominations that went into its creation. But while it walks, the very ground shakes from its heavy steps and a miasma trails in its wake. Its massive claws rend flesh and stone like they were tissue paper and its very touch can drain the essence and soul of a being to heal its constantly degenerating body.

The Desolation Engine is a minion primarily used by Leveticus, it is so rarely used with any other Master that this article is written from the assumption it is being brought with him. It serves as a potent heavy hitter and all around combat monstrosity, able to crush even Masters without much trouble and deal with a swarm of lesser minions trying to defend their Master. Best viewed as a disposable resource during gameplay, keeping a Desolation Engine alive for more then a few turns is a challenge with their Low Df, high Ht, and high threat level they tend to attract a lot of attention from your opponent. It rarely is hired into a crew because //Unstable Creation// quickly drains away it's Wds, rather it is most often created by using 4 Steampunk Abomination's (SPA's) and their //Concentrated Deformation// action.

=__Mobility__= Besides an decent Wk/Cg of 5/8, the Desolation Engine itself has no built in ways of increasing or manipulating its movement. //Unstable Creation// actually hampers your desire to spend Ap trying to maneuver around things instead of attempting to smash right through them. The way to get a Desolation Engine into position is through the SPA's that will go into its creation.

Simply, bringing a Desolation Engine at the start of the game is generally a bad idea. Between its terrible Df and large Ht, it will attract nearly every bit of ranged fire your opponent has, let alone the Wds it will lose from //Unstable Creation//. Its better to bring 4 SPA's and move them up field using a combination of //Keep Pace// and //Anomaly// to move quickly and keep them safe. When you finally near the position you want the Desolation Engine, try and make sure the last SPA won't need to move to get into position (so you preserve Ap) and then use //Concentrated Deformation// and bring out your Desolation Engine right on top of your opponent. Remember, it is a Replace so it's going to be right on top of your SPA's so you have to time it carefully.

=__Offense__= The Desolation Engine has a few means of dealing death, and are not just limited to its potent melee weapon. In melee, it is quite the force to be reckoned with, with a 2" reach, paired Cb 6, Melee Expert and a good damage spread it can quickly dispatch most Minions and many Masters in a single turn. Give its usual means of delivery to combat (//Concentrated Deformation// from SPA's) it has the surprising tendency to get into awkward positions for your opponent to deal with.

Consuming Touch
Thanks to its low Df and //Unstable Creation//, your Desolation Engine will be in a perpetual state of ever increasing damage. Luckily the Engine has this trigger to help offset some if not all of the damage you will suffer and with its powerful melee attack you should be able to keep it topped off as long as you stay in combat.

It is important to realize that this trigger heals you 1 Wd for every Wd you inflicted on the defender, not every damage. So models with high Armor or Object are not the best of Targets for the Desolation Engine, it won't recover enough of its Wds to make up for its own losses and your opponent's attacks. Those models are better left to Leveticus as he is very capable of inflicting straight Wds and bypassing Armor all together.

Desolate Warping
Extremely useful as a "last hit" option, with the Desolation Engine's high damage and accuracy, you should have little trouble getting this final hit in for the trigger. Generating more SPA's is always a good idea, the more you have the more Desolation Engines you can make during a game and the more attention you can keep off of Leveticus and your other models. Having Leveticus cast //Blessing of Desolation// on the Engine does give it the same trigger again, but it also gives it the additional Crow to its Cb it needs for the Trigger. This lets you focus more on just hitting the enemy model rather then having to worry about hitting it and getting that Crow, effectively quadrupling the number of cards you can use.

Don't use this trigger at the expensive of //Consuming Touch// when you're low on Wds or in a tight spot. This is strictly based on the situation, i.e. how many Wds you have left, how many enemy models are near the Engine, and how important is it to keep this Engine alive. Remember that //Lost Focus// will leave behind 2 more SPA's when the Engine dies, so if you already have 1 SPA nearby and you kill a model with this trigger rather than healing, even if the Engine is destroyed, you have a good chance of building a new one that turn and getting to activate with it. But, there are enough models out there and enough situations where the SPA's won't be able to be summoned or will get quickly killed that this wont always work. There is little point in making a new SPA when facing down heavy AE damage as you need to clump up to make a new Desolation Engine, when healing from //Consuming Touch// can keep your existing Engine alive.

__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 its action is it killed and effects like //Desolate Warping// and Counter generation are resolved.

Industrial Nightmare
Often overlooked and forgotten, this Ability is extremely useful and downright deadly in the right situation. Though sadly unlike //Caustic Aura//, this only effects Living Models so against certain crews it's next to useless. Even so; a Df 12 duel may not seem like a lot, but consider the average Df is 5ish, they need at least a 7 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 4" of the Engine, 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 for their //Caustic Aura//, that quickly becomes a lot of duels. Sure they have a better then 50% chance of passing these duels on average, but 2 Wdsadds 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 perceiving it as a big enough threat not end up within 4" of it during the Closing Phase, but it's good to be aware of this. Overlapping the aura with several SPA's //Caustic Aura// will make it quite hazardous to end up to close to them, as one Df 12 duel is generally not a problem, but a Df 12 duel and several Df 9 duels can be.

__Note:__ If a model is in range of multiple Engine's //Industrial Nightmare//, they have to take the Duel for every //Industrial Nightmare// they are in range of.

Desolate Supplications
Being a (0) spell is by far the best thing about this spell as the Engines other (0) action, //Consume// doesn't generally see a whole lot of use. This lets you easily spend your other Ap tearing into a model or two and then blast a whole area with this spell. With a 6" pulse this spell hits a surprisingly large area of the table, and if the Desolation Engine is in the thick of your opponent's crew that could be quite a lot of potential damage. But remember, this will affect your own models in range so be careful when you use it and where you position friendly models around a Desolation Engine. 2 Dg may not seem like a lot, but as always, it adds up quickly.

It does cost you 3 Wds to cast the spell (remember you only lose the Wds if you successfully cast it, i.e. meet the CC) but that's easily dealt with by saving one of your attacks for after you cast the spell and making use of the //Consuming Touch// trigger. Easily the biggest hurdle to cross if you want to use this spell is getting the 11+ of Tombs you need. This means in a fully stocked deck, only 4 cards will cast this spell. It can often be worth holding onto one of these cards for later use by your Engine, most opponents often overlook this spell so it can be a nice surprise for later.

If this spell still doesn't seem valuable to you, think of what you opponent will need to resist this. Average Df in the game is 5 or 6. Your minimum casting total is a 16, so even at its lowest they need a 12 or 11 to resist the spell. Catch a few valuable models in there that can't afford to take the hit, and it's going to quickly burn their high cards. Then if they're living models you have Industrial Nightmare happening in the Closing Phase to take advantage of their drained hands.

=__Resilience__= Resilience for the Desolation Engine comes in the form of //Hard to Wound 1// and a lot of Wds (12 to be precise). It has a terrible Df of 2 meaning almost anything is going to hit it when they attack but //Hard to Wound 1// should help mitigate the result and if you flip well enough, keep your opponents Damage Flip at a Negative Twist. Considering this and its slightly above average Wp 6, the Desolation Engine can prove to be quite tough to put down because it can absorb so much damage. //Consuming Touch// also plays a big role in its Resilience, letting you recover many if not all of the Wds you suffer over a turn. The flaw though, is that the Desolation Engine has to survive to its next activation to be able to attack again and heal.

Warped Anomaly
You should rarely have to use this action as you want your Deslation Engine to spend all its time either in Melee, or as SPA's. But given the odd time when it is caught out in the open (say you just killed all your engaged targets) and staring down the barrel of a pistol, this is absolutely worth using if you don't think you can make it into Melee Range that activation.

=__Tips and Tricks__= There are 2 common ways to use the Desolation Engine during a game, as a front line blitz type model or as a flanker. But whats consistent accross all uses of the Engine is, you should hire 4 SPA's instea of hiring a Desolation Engine. They will cover more distance in a single turn, are harder to hit and pin down, and don't Wd themselves for every (1) action they take (//Unstable Creation// strikes again).

This is very straight forward. You line up your SPA's around the center of the board and speed your way down the field as fast as possible. Be sure to stay out of LOS of your opponent untill you are in range to move up your SPA's into their final position and summon the Engine right on top of them. But the key is, you go for their largest cluster of models that you think you can handle. Be smart about this, don't dump the Engine in the middle of a group of models it can't do a lot of damage to (like a Guardian or a high Df Master like Perdita Ortega). You want to aim for the mid cost models almost every crew fields and get close to as many of them as you can, if they are living models be sure to get all you can in that 4" Pulse range for //Industrial Nightmare,// otherwise just aim for Melee Range and the 6" Pulse for //Desolate Supplications//. Then just go nuts, attack the models you have the best chance of killing to eliminate incoming attacks and hopefully turn them into SPA's with //Desolate Warpings//. Don't forget to use //Desolate Supplications// to try and spread around even more damage. Your goal is to cause as much chaos and damage as possible, not to survive. Your Engine is most likely going to die from this, but hopefully you will have done enough damage to make up for the loss and if you can get the 2 SPA's it will leave behind to safety, you can always build another.
 * Blitzing with the Engine**

For added power, if you have brought Rusty Alyce to the game, have Alyce use //Burnout// on an SPA before you combine into the Desolation Engine so that it will have Reactivate. 2 Activations from a Desolation Engine in your opponent's face should take a big chunk out of their crew and leave then in enough disarray for Leveticus to easily swoop in and mop up. If Leveticus is close by, it's often a good idea not to look to kill the models with the Desolation Engine, but rather try and bring as many as you can down to 3 Wds or less so Leveticus can finish them off with //Necrotic Unmaking// and create more SPA's.

This use gets a bit more convoluted and often relies on your opponent regarding Leveticus and the rest of your crew as a bigger threat then the Engine (which in general, they will be). Like the Blitz tactic, you keep the 4 SPA's together but you move up one of the flanks of the board. Try to avoid Severe Terrain as they are not that fast to begin with and your relying on getting into position as fast as possible. Try to aim for the opponent's more vulnerable flank (i.e. the one with less resilient models on it) and get into range to spring the Engine on them about the same time Leveticus reaches their front lines. This may require you to hold the SPA's off to the side for a turn, but it's worth the wait. Once Leveticus hits the front line and starts taking chunks out of the enemy, they most likely won't have much they can dedicate to that flank to stop your Engine. This leaves you in the perfect position to swoop in and catch them in a pincer between the Engine and the rest of your crew, leaving them little room to escape and helping reduce the number of incoming attacks on the Engine. If you do this right, Leveticus should take the brunt of the damage and die but that is all according to plan (remember he'll be back at the end of turn). This frees up the center for the Engine to follow into on its next Activation and catch as many models as it can in range of its Pulses, causing even more chaos and death.
 * Flanking with the Engine**

Against Ranged Attack heavy crews (like the Ortegas) this tends to be the more effective strategy as they can generally gun down SPA's that try to blitz up the center. If you stay on the flank and stay out of LoS, they are going to have a hard time getting a good shot on you until it's too late. Though never forget, if you don't also put a hefty amount of threat on their center or other flank, they can all to easily turn and just deal with the Engine alone. You have to press that center or alternate flank and give them that difficult choice of what to deal with.

Lost Focus
It's always good to keep this in mind when deciding what to do with your Desolation Engine during a game. Even if it dies, it gives you half the components you need to create a new one and for this reason, the Desolation Engine makes a very good sacrificial pawn. What's even more disconcerting for many opponents is, they often rely on passive effects that discourage you from attacking them (things such as //Exhaustion// from the Alps or //Black Blood// from the Nephilim). With the Desolation Engine, take Dg/Wds from one of these effects or even losing it to one of them is not a huge deal if you can get the 2 SPA's it summons away and into a group with 2 more. The Engine can just come right back.

Necrotic Repository
This is one of those often forgotten and overlooked abilities. Most players forget about it because you're Sacrificing this 12ss model. They often forget //Lost Focus// works even if the model is sacrificed. But given this model sees almost exclusive use with Leveticus, this can be a game winning ability if done correctly. One of Leveticus' biggest weaknesses is his control hand, he doesn't draw cards to it as normal and has to gain a specific trigger on his spells to draw any cards unless he dies. Having him suddenly gain up to 12 more cards to his hand can be game changing, especially if its later in the turn and you've already burnt out most of your hand or your opponent's hand.

By no means will this always be a good idea, but it's certainly one you should keep in the back of your head. For more information on Leveticus' issues with his Control Hand, see his article.

Consume
Because this is a (0) action, it won't cause //Unstable Creation// to Wd your Engine and if you have an abundancy of SPA's it can be well worth attempting to heal your Engine. The situation will dictate what is the better option, letting your Engine die and making a new one with the SPA's or consuming your extra SPA's and keeping one the you have alive. More often than not, it is just better to let the Engine die and create a new one, but remember that SPA's are not all that tough in the end. They can generally take 1 hit but that's about it, and AE damage can very quickly eliminate a cluster of them.

Unnatural Feedings
You will most likely have very little if any use for this action. Rarely does Leveticus find himself with a spare model to sacrifice and because this is a (1) action, //Unstable Creation// kicks in and Wds the Engine for it. So unless you are extremely short on Control Cards and just happen to have a toss away model, this is just simply not worth the action.

=__Master-Specific Tips__= Besides being about the only Master that you ever see with a Desolation Engine, Leveticus doesn't actually do a whole lot for the Engine itself. His //Blessing of Desolation// spell is very handy for giving the Engine the other Crow it needs for Desolate Warping, but otherwise he gives the Engine no buffs. What he does do though is create more SPA's which in turn create more Desolation Engines for you, so it's a sort of Circle of Life effect with him. Because he creates more SPA's it enables you to be much more reckless with your Desolation Engine, performing the Blitz tactic with greater abandon and viciousness.
 * Leveticus**

=__Minion-Specific Tips__=

Steampunk Abominations:
Steampunk Abominations (SPA) are really a must have when using the Desolation Engine. To start with, the Desolation Engine is rarely purchased at the beginning of a game. This is because for the same Soulstone price you can buy 4 SPA's that have the ability to turn into the Desolation Engine. This way you use the movement shenanigans and protection from ranged attacks of the SPA's to get them where you want the Desolation Engine to appear without having the Desolation Engine taking damage for the initial movement (because of //Unstable Creation//) to get across the board. Though rarely used, the //Consume// action allows the Desolation Engine to snack on a nearby SPA and make a healing flip per SPA consumed helping you keep it alive when you simply can't afford it dying.

Steampunk Abominations are a must to own if you want a Desolation Engine.

Rusty Alyce:
Like Leveticus, she can create more SPA's which in turn create more Desolation Engines and furthers the reckless and aggressive use of the Desolation Engine. But she also brings so much more to the table in the form on her //Burnout// Spell. At first you may be a bit wary because it does reduce the Engine to 1 Wd at the end of the turn, but that is completely fine. The Engine is made to die and come back just like its Master Leveticus. As long as you can create 2 more SPA's through other means, you can easily make a kamikazi attack with the Engine and create another one with its left overs. But more importantly, the Reactivate from //Burnout// is extremely powerful on the turn you create your Desolation Engine. You have your SPA's move up field, making sure to put //Burnout// on one of them before it gets out of Alyces range. Be sure not to activate that SPA a 2nd time and use up the Reactivate, instead get into position and create your Desolation Engine. Because all the effects on the SPA's transfer over to the Engine it will have Reactivate and if you created it in the right place, it will have 2 Activations up close and personal with your opponent's crew before the turn's out. If you've managed to out activate your opponent and the Engine is the last model going that turn (or at least going after all their models have) that's 2 Activations your opponent can't react to or really do anything about.


 * Ashes and Dust:**

If you can somehow manage to get both DE and A&D on the table at the same time he becomes an absolute nightmare! He loses //Unstable Creation// with an aura effect and A&D has a spell that makes the DE attack - which as we know is a good thing! This does somewhat limit the mobility of A&D, but even if killed, the Ashen Core also has the same abilities, so the DE can keep on fighting.

=__Playing Against Desolation Engine__= The best thing you can do against a Desolation Engine is kill the SPA's before they have a chance to form into the Engine. Failing to do that, you're in for a hard fight no matter how you look at it. The Engine is going to want to get near as many models as possible so that //Industrial Nightmare// and //Desolate Supplications// have the maximum effect on you. These duels can quickly eat through your hand, so beware of this when you see SPA's drawing close.

Otherwise, the Engine hits extremely hard but has no direct way to deal with high Armor. So extremely tough models like the Guardian can hold back a Desolation Engine for several turns. When it comes to killing one, Hard to Wound 1 will make it difficult for you to get a neutral flip on the damage though High Cb can help compensate for this as its Df is a terrible 2. Even then, it still has 12 Wds you have to chew through and heals itself when it damages you with its claws. You're basically going to have to kill it in one turn before it gets a chance to Activate and heal. Even if this takes multiple models to do, you want to finish it off or leave it at 1 Wd (Remember, //Unstable Creation//) before it has a chance to recover. Instant kill triggers like //Headshot// and //Dissasemble// are extremely effective against the Engine because it has such a high Wd total, your opponent is very unlikely to let them go off if he/she has a choice so this can quickly take a toll on their Control Hand. If they are playing Leveticus (which they 99% of the time will be) this hurts even more because of negative effects he has on his Control Hand.

If you have them, models that can deny //Lost Focus// (which is mainly only models with //Voracious Rats// right now) are worth every point against the Engine. Because it leaves behind half of what your opponent needs to build a new one, suicide strikes with the Desolation Engine are a very common thing and you will almost always come out worse for it. Otherwise, Leveticus and Alyce can make more SPA's from Scrap counters so do your best to try and police them where you can. Either pick them up with your models that can, or eliminate with actions that clear off counters (Guild has a number of these).

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