December+Acolyte

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 * December Acolyte, Arcanist Minion [[image:WYR3015_500.jpeg width="310" height="390" align="right"]]**

=__Overview__=

The December Acolytes are nomadic followers of the Tyrant December, men who have been twisted and tainted through their ritualistic practices. Rumors abound as to their origins, and most believe they are remnants of Old Malifaux, already present when the Breach re-opened recently. In the game of Malifaux, they are more utility pieces, and sort of suffer from a 'jack of all trades, master of none' problem. That said, they are still solid, mid-cost Minions, and work well in the December-themed crews.

=__Mobility__=

The Acolyte's Wk of 4 and Cg of 6 is relatively average, but it does not hamper his movement as much as you might think. His other abilities offer options to help overcome his mobility issues. = =

=__Offense__=

__Melee__ A simple 1" Claws attack is the Acolyte's contribution to melee damage. Unfortunately, he has no special abilities tied to this weapon, so it's only real function is to be something that is at least slightly better than a Bash attack. He does have a trigger called Rip Throat that gives +2 Dg against targets without Armor, so that is something to keep in mind. There is one other reason to use this attack, discussed in the Resilience section.

__Ranged__ Harpoon Gun is definitely the primary weapon you will want to use with the Acolyte in most situations. It has a nice 12" range, a respectable Cb of 5, and a decent 2/3/6 damage flip. The biggest advantage of this weapon though is the special ability that causes targets to receive Slow when they are wounded. There are also two triggers tied to this weapon as well. One called Drag will bring enemies closer, and the other one called Harpoon Fate causes targets to discard Control Cards. The only downside to using the Harpoon Gun is that it costs a (2) action. You can fire it as a (1) action but you lose some range, and the Cb goes down a bit. The inclusion of the Hunter ability on this model makes a nice difference in being able to utilize those ranged attacks as well, so don't forget about this one, and be sure to utilize the terrain appropriately.

=__Resilience__=

At a defense of 5 and 7 Wds, the Acolyte is a decent mid-level piece. Their primary means of staying around longer than you would expect is from their (0) Eat Your Fill ability, allowing the Acolyte to fully heal his Wounds after he successfully kills something with a melee attack. He also has the Graverobber ability, and then a (0) action spell allowing him to discard a Corpse Counter in order to make healing flip. Lastly, Bearskin Armor provides some nice defense against AoE type attacks, which is particularly helpful early in the game while From the Shadows is still protecting the Acolyte from ranged attacks.

=__Tips and Tricks__=

__From the Shadows__ This ability is the primary trick the Acolyte is used for in most crews, allowing the model to be deployed outside the deployment zone in most cases. It allows you start with an advanced force of sorts. You have to be careful because he starts out such that he can't be attacked due to this ability, but as soon as you take an action other than Pass, this goes away. So be sure to deploy the Acolyte in an area where he can stay safe until he's ready to start attacking or to specifically grab some objective.

__Other Spells__ Devour and Icy Fate are the Acolyte's other two spells. While they won't get used all that often, they are certainly great to remember. With a Ca of 6 to start with, even though both of these require an additional Crow in the total to cast the spells, it does mean that this guy can get fairly decent casting totals, making these spells tough to resist. Do be aware though, that the Ca of 6 also puts the Acolyte into the category of suffering against the Guild's anti-magic users.

=__Master-Specific Tips__=

At first glance, you would think it is obvious that this guy ought to pair up with Rasputina, but as it happens, he doesn't have any direct synergy with her, or any of the Arcanist masters particuarly. The Acolyte is in general, a filler piece, good for tossing in your crew once you've already seen the terrain and know the Strategies. The Acolyte is particularly good in situations where there is lots of tall terrain where you could perch him, and allow him to use the Harpoon Gun against unsuspecting victims below.

Probably the main synergy the Acolyte has with other models is that most of his abilities and triggers rely on different suits than most typical Arcanist pieces, since he primarily needs Crows for two of his spells and a trigger. Being a Graverobber does make him particularly nice to pair with Rasputina's avatar form, the Avatar of Famine, so you can make sure that Corpse Counters are dropped throughout the game, and are in good supply when Rasputina manifests.

=__Minion-Specific Tips__=

The primary synergy that the Acolyte has with other pieces is in utilizing the Drag trigger on the Harpoon Gun to pull enemy pieces into range of your other models. Combined with Hunter, it can be fun to pull an enemy piece out from hiding in some woods terrain or similar, and then have the piece be standing in the open, ready for Rasputina to blast away with her range spells. Or, to pull an enemy model a few inches closer so your big melee beatstick like a Steamborg Executioner or Slate Ridge Mauler can wail on them.

=__Playing Against the December Acolyte__=

Overall, the Acolyte is oftentimes viewed as a somewhat lesser piece, and outside of using the piece for some interesting tactics with From the Shadows, many players overlook this piece when building crews. Most players would rather field those 6 points of their crew for models that will have more direct synergy with their Master and other Minions. That said, it is still a piece to be concerned about, and it can be easy to forget that it is camping out in the middle of the table somewhere, just doing Pass actions and waiting for something to get close enough to start hitting with the Harpoon Gun. The Harpoon Fate trigger is definitely one to remember, as it can quickly drain your control hand. If the Arcanist player also has another model with triggers like Headshot or Decapitate, you will have trouble keeping cards in your hand, and may end up losing models that way. Lastly, be wary of leaving an Acolyte alive with only a couple Wds left. If you're going to work on doing damage to an Acolyte, it is better to focus on it, and be sure to finish it off, rather than take the chance that it ends up pulling off an Eat Your Fill on one of your weak models, and you have to do all that work over again.

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