Warmachine - Fane of Nyrro Deep Dive

The Fane of Nyrro is the new army within the larger Empire of Dusk faction in Warmachine. Like House Kallyss, the leaders of the army are made up of Eldritch - Elves who have severed their souls from their gods, becoming immortals once more like the Elves were in ancient times, but in turn becoming vicious vampiric beings.

Unlike the army of House Kallyss, which uses the arcantrik Myrmidons as seen in the armies of the Retribution of Scyrah, the Fane of Nyrro fields warbeasts. These are large bat-like organisms that have been mentally and spiritually dominated by their Eldritch lords, who have attached to these creatures various items of armour or blades to enhance their combat effectiveness.

So what makes this Warlock-led "Hordes" army different to many other armies already present in the game?

Hunger

Just like Warlocks in other armies, the primary resource for the army is Fury, which is generated by your warbeasts. However, Warlocks in the Fane of Nyrro have access to Hunger.

Hunger is a pool that is unlimited in size and is retained from turn to turn. Warloacks begin the game with 3 points of Hunger. The basic ability that Hunger can be spent upon is Shadow Shift (formerly Blood Shift), which costs 3 points of Hunger and allows the Warlock to escape combat. When hit, and the attack is fully resolved, Shadow Shift allows the Warlock to be placed base-to-base with another friendly Faction model within 4 inches of it. The chosen model is then removed from play - and you can't Reave Fury. For a Fane of Nyrro Warlock being targeted by an enemy heavy hitter on an assassination run, being able to escape after the first hit makes them a tricky enemy to pin down. So how is Hunger generated?

Often, this will be achieved by destroying enemy models or by the new condition, Torment. A model suffering from Torment provides the Fane of Nyrro Warlock a point of Hunger during the model's army Maintenance Phase.

Furthermore, Shadow Shift is not the only Hunger power. Each Warlock has a repertoire of Hunger powers. Each with its own cost.

And finally, the Warlock is not the only Eldritch model that can use Hunger points. All Eldritch in the army can spend the Hunger points on the leader Warlock. And can use any of the Hunger abilities the leader Warlock has. The retains the concept of the leader Warlock, which defines the army's playstyle.

Executioner's Toll

Hysene

Hysene is your Warlock in this starter set for the Fane of Nyrro, and along with Hysene, you have a character heavy warbeast, a solo, a unit, and a unit attachment.

Hysene is relatively quick, boasting a monstrous MAT of 8, meaning she is capable of hitting most enemies in combat with relative ease, barring outliers like Caine. Her own defence is above average and boasts high armour value, comparable to a light warjack.

All of the above sets the groundwork for a Warlock that fights from the front. Her melee weapon is an RNG 2 POW 16 sword, which will in most cases box grunts with ease, even those with multiple hit boxes. Adding to this beat-stick vibe are her spells. She only has an ARC of 6, with spells like Dash giving her a touch more threat range, and Deceleration providing her close-combat-focused army more resilience on the approach to shooting-centric armies. Perhaps her most useful spell to maximise her kills and thus Hunger is Gallows, which, on a hit, drags the enemy towards her. It's also clutch when you need to contest an objective.

Hysene brings her array of Hunger abilities. For 1 Hunger, Deathly Repose shake effects, which makes her Fury efficient, thus providing that extra boost, or attack. Murderous Impulse for 2 Hunger points allows Hysene to make another attack as long as she has killed a model with a combat action. So again, Hunger is acting as a slightly more expensive Fury pool that must be filled more aggressively and has more specific usage restrictions. Finally, Brutal Strike, costing 7 Hunger, gives Hysene Decapitation for their next attack - doubling the excess damage dealt to the model once ARM is accounted for. So if Hysene is charged up with Hunger, charges their target, boosts their attack roll, that is POW 16, 3D6 on the attack with MAT 8 (so average of 18 hit roll), and 3D6 on the Damage roll (averaging around 26 Damage). Against the likes of a Colossal that deals 12 damage. Assuming Hysene have more Hunger, it could be possible for her to deal another strike like this.

Sybaris

Sybaris is the character warbeast. It flies, so it has a matching speed, middling defence, and decent armour. Of note is that these warbeasts have a high Fury rating, 5 in the case of Sybaris, and the ability called Conditioned. This allows these warbeasts to pick the target of their Frenzy. Sybaris can also drag the enemy, and so inch a target closer to your heavy hitter, Hysene.

Sybaris's main role, though, is seeking out easy-to-kill enemies, taking them out, and generating Hunger for Hysene. This is reflected by the fact that, as a Heavy Warbeast, Sybaris is not a heavy hitter, with three weapons, all with just a POW of 15. A trend followed by all the Nyrro warbeasts. This reflects how the playstyle of the army is the inversion of most Hordes-type armies, as your Warlock is playing further up the board.

Sybaris has a great trick to support this, as its animus, Echolocation, effectively gives Hysene line of sight to enemies she would not normally have. Want to charge through some trees? Now you can. Sybaris can also inflict Torment with their weapons. So Sybaris should be targeting enemies to either kill to charge up Hunger, or deal out Torment.

Strygon Rider

Flying cavalry is not something to treat lightly, as this Eldritch riding a beast (and so can use Hunger!) is a fast-moving solo that can support your leader. It gains +3 ARM while near your leader and boasts a useful lance attack with Armour-Piercing and Critical Freeze, which couples well with the Shatter trait of the mount's attacks. Make it the target of Dash by Hysene; now it has speed 8, fly, and, coupled with Sybaris, could potentially charge over obstructing terrain, making it a threat across the board.

Fane Knights

A unit of more Eldritch (hi Hunger), these models like the Strygon Rider have Unbowed, making them a good unit to support Hysene, protecting her while also boosting their own armour from 16 to 19. The downside is that they are slow and have low defence. Likewise, their attacks are not the best, with only a POW of 11, jumping to 13 on the charge.

Aiding the Knights is the Sythyss Prophet. This unit attachment can bring grunts back from the dead and provides the unit with the Ashen Veil, making them harder to hit at range and in combat.

Wrapping Up

What we can see is that the Fane of Nyrro plays their table inverted, with their Warlocks being heavy hitters, while the warbeasts are more pillow-fisted by comparison, often hunting down grunts to further charge up your Warlock with more Hunger. With 18 hit points, Hysene can weather attacks and quickly move away, neutering assassination runs on her, allowing her to prepare another strike. This also means you are more than happy to put the Warlock on objectives to contest them. To play against them means surrounding the Warlock, shutting down the avenues for escape, and quenching their sources of Hunger.