High Exemplar Kreoss

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High Exemplar Kreoss Protectorate Warcaster

A paragon of valour for the armies of the Protectorate, Mikael Kreoss was raised in Khador as a devout Menite. He heeded the call to arms and left his homeland to help lead the cause for his faith. A hero to all in the Protectorate and a skilled leader and general to the Exemplar Order.

Basic Info

Kreoss1
Missing Info
	COST {{{cacost}}} UNIT SIZE {{{casize}}} FA {{{cafa}}} Warcaster 0 BASE Small SPD 5 STR 7 MAT 7 RAT N/A M.A. N/A DEF 14 ARM 16 CMD N/A ESSENCE {{{essence}}} FOCUS 7 FURY N/A THRS N/A HP 18 F. Field N/A WJP +29 WBP {{{wbp}}} IHP {{{ihp}}} FA N/A UNIT SIZE N/A COST N/A N/A N/A N/A Warcaster 1 COST N/A N/A Understanding the Statblock

Warcaster - All warcasters come with a stack of standard special rules - most notably being awesome. Click here for a newbie-friendly recap, or click here for the full rules.

Feat : Menoth's Wrath

Enemy models currently in Kreoss' control range become knocked down.

Abilities

• None

Weapons

• Spellbreaker - 2" reach, P+S 14 melee weapon.
  • Damage Type: Magical
  • Chain Weapon
  • Dispel - When this weapon hits a model/unit, upkeep spells and animi on that model/unit immediately expire.

Spells

	COST	RNG	AOE	POW	DUR	OFF
Cleansing Fire	3	8	3	14 (Fire)	-	Yes
Cleansing Fire deals fire damage. On a critical hit, models hit suffer continuous fire.
Defender's Ward	3	6	-	-	Upkeep	No
Target friendly Faction model/unit gains +2 DEF & ARM. Models are not affected while out of formation.
Immolation	2	8	-	12 (Fire)	-	Yes
Immolation causes fire damage. On a critical hit, the model hit suffers the Fire continuous effect.
Lamentation	3	SELF	-	-	Upkeep	No
When an enemy model casts a spell while in the spellcaster's control range, double the COST of the spell. Additionally, enemy models must pay double to upkeep spells on models/units in the spellcaster's control range.
Purification	4	SELF	Control	-	-	No
Continuous effects, animi, and upkeep spells in the spellcaster’s control range immediately expire.

Theme Forces

• Exemplar Interdiction. He gains Aegis in this theme.
• Guardians of the Temple
• The Creator's Might. He can start the game with upkeeps in play, and upkeep them for free in turn 1, in this theme.
• The Faithful Masses
• Warriors of the Old Faith

Thoughts on Kreoss1

Original 2003 sculpt

Kreoss1 in a nutshell

Kreoss is a jack-of-all-trades caster with a combination of fiery magic, defensive buffs and anti-magic spells. His feat combined with his large control range threatens a large portion of the enemy's army, and can often be crucial to win a game with him.

He has many similarities with The Harbinger of Menoth; bearing a particularly dangerous feat, and the dreaded Purification spell. Unlike his divine fellow-caster, though, he is a good choice for a newcomer to the game/faction, as the various combinations of his feat and spells are relatively straightforward to understand and use.

Feat thoughts

His feat is very powerful, and a lot of the strategy to using Kreoss is knowing when and how to best use it. See below for more detail.

You should also refresh yourself with Knockdown page for exactly what it does/doesn't prevent. Also, you should take a quick look at Category: Anti-Knockdown to get an idea of stuff that is going to make life hard for you.

Spell thoughts

• Purification
  • It eats up a huge chunk from your FOCUS and erases friendly upkeeps too, so only cast in when you must (usually just before you try an assassination or kill a valuable targets).
  • At the start of your turn, spend a moment to seriously think about whether it'll be a good turn for Purification. If it is, don't bother paying to upkeep your own spells.
  • It is very powerful against armies that really need their upkeeps in play. Forcing them to recast every turn will hamper their play. Examples include certain theme forces like Sons of the Tempest theme forces, and upkeep-heavy casters (especially Resourceful ones).
• Defenders Ward - One of the best buff spells out there; making squishy but elusive units resistant to blasts, and pumping up their DEF to levels, where enemy will have real trouble hitting them.
• Immolation - apart of Incorporeal hunting at range you'll rarely have focus for this zap spell.
• Cleansing Fire - strong fiery AoE, but pretty expensive, even for a FOC7 caster
• Lamentation - Great denial spell both against offensive spellcasters (like Haley1), and those who like to hand out multiple upkeeps (like Stryker1). Definitely worth casting on Turn 1, if your enemies have important COST3 or 4 spells on their card.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• No mobility or damage increase spells for his army - enemy speed de-buffs and rough terrain can hurt you a lot.
• His spells are expensive to cast, so Kreoss is vulnerable to anti-magic techs (Arcane Suppression, and counter-Lamentation especially).
• Steady models and KD immunity tricks can render many of his tricks harmless.
• He used to be sold in the starter battlebox, so almost everyone in the world has played against him and know what strategy to use to counter him.

Tricks & Tips

• Before taking all the models with AoE into your army, keep in mind that working out all of the shots can eat up quite a lot of time. Do not lose a battle on Deathclock.
• his melee weapon can be used on friendly models - smack them in the back and dispel will trigger - although given his P+S you may want to make sure you don’t cripple a warjack system with a well meaning swing.

List Building Advice

Strategy

There are very few models who won't work well in Kreoss' army. His feat alleviates most of the accuracy issues, while Defender's Ward provides ample protection for your most important units (and as you have no speed buffs, you want it on your slow, tanky models).

Pop and drop assassination

Kreoss moves up the board, feats and catches the enemy caster in his extensive CTRL range. Now, melee attacks will auto-hit the enemy, while ranged attacks will usually hit on anything but snake eyes (except for Inaccurate models).

Even if the enemy caster stays out of range, affected models cease to block LOS, so you can reach them behind screening infantry models and jacks.

Remember though; Shield Guards will still work to mitigate ranged shots, and there are many ways to negate knockdown (Solid Ground, Steady, etc.). In such cases models will remain standing, and often, screening. If KD immunity is granted by spells like Heightened Reflexes, first cast Purification with the desired target in your CTRL zone, then use your feat.

Attrition

Even without killing the caster, Menoth's Wrath allows you to remove a fair bit of the enemy's force with ease. If they survive, they'll lose either their movement or action, causing some serious scenario pressure too.

Denial

Use Lamentation to mess with expensive enemy spells and upkeeps, or use Purifications if you have no valuable upkeeps in play. Your aptly named Spellbreaker also has the Dispel ability, so keep an eye out for its applications, if you want to save FOCUS on Purification. Don't forget: casting an Animus now counts as casting a spell!

Kreoss can really shine in killbox scenarios too, where the box and the threat of his feat can severely limit the opposing caster's movement.

Theme Thoughts

    Support Models - Various Themes    

• Hierophant - with Harmonious Exaltation, you can cast Purification and Lamentation in the same turn, and still have a focus left. Add in a Wrack, and you can re-cast Defender's Ward too.
• Rhupert - make sure your heavy hitters will reach their targets
• Idrian Skirmishers - A great unit with lots of guns and prey.

Beside his expensive spells he'll rarely have spare focus to run an extensive battlegroup, but he does love ranged jacks to shoot knocked down enemies with, who only need one focus to boost damage.

• The Choir, Vassal Mechanik, and Vassal of Menoth will always have place in his lists, especially when on powerful jacks that almost auto-hit knocked down enemies.

    Exemplar Interdiction    
Kreoss gains Aegis in this theme, this isn’t game winning on its own but knowing that corrosion and fire will never stick to you let you play slightly more confidently.

• Knights Exemplar strong melee units with with Cleave + Overtake (from command attachment) can make quite a massacre among knocked-down enemies.
• High Exemplar Gravus no knockdown or stationary is again not game winning but it is very useful on your caster.
• Exemplar Vengers great targets for Defenders Ward and it’s easy to impact attack knocked down infantry.
• Severius0 +1/+1 is great on anything. He can also run a Redeemer for him.

     Guardians of the Temple    

• Flameguard Cleansers - nothing is easier than spraying enemies on the ground
• Daughters of the Flame, Flame Bringers - fast melee units with either multiple attacks can make quite a massacre among knocked-down enemies.

     Faithful Masses    

• Deliverer Sunburst Crew - Pop feat and rain down POW 15s
• Menite Archons - Double the fun this theme. They add +2 to the damage rolls of Deliverer Sunbursts.
• The Living Covenant - He can teleport Kreoss back, so you can jo-jo him in and out to do work personally. It also lets him feat aggressively.

     Creator's Might    

• The Living Covenant and Severius0 are in this theme as well.

Battlegroup

Fire of Salvation is Kreoss's pet warjack, that he can take in any theme.

• Judicator - An excellent gun platform and a great target for Defender's Ward.
• Dervish find it hilariously simple, combined with a Choir, to finished off knocked down enemies, then side-step to kill even more. Put one on Severius0 and watch them murder spree through enemies for little cost to Kreoss.
• Kreoss will often want a Shield Guard, so he can play up and catch more enemies in his feat. Both the Templar and the Devout offer Shield Guard and 2" reach to maximise on the feat.
• Redeemer, Reckoner - Pop feat, cast Hymn of Battle, rain fire on the enemy

First Seven Purchases

A few veteran players have put their heads together and tried to figure out the seven best things to buy for this specific caster. This is not designed to add up to a nice round points limit, nor be balanced vs other "First Seven" lists you find on this website. It is simply going to give you some of the essentials this caster needs most of the time.

1. Warjack: Redeemer
2. Warjack: Redeemer
3. Warjack: Judicator
4. Solo: Severius0
5. Solo: Vassal Mechanik (x2)
6. Unit: Choir of Menoth
7. Unit: Visgoth Juviah Rhoven & Honor Guard

Other

Trivia

• He is one of the three original Protectorate casters, released way back in Warmachine: Prime (2003)

Rules Clarifications

Rules Clarification:  : Magical Damage      (Edit) (Click Expand to read)

* The "Damage Type: Magical" is not inherited by "secondary" damage from a weapon. That is, stuff like arcs (Electro Leap) or hazards (Scather). (Infernal Ruling) All spells have "Damage Type: Magical" (refer errata). This is inherited by "immediate" secondary damage (such as Eruption of Spines). (Infernal Ruling) and might be inherited by "lingering" secondary damage (see below). If a spell leaves a template in play that does damage to models that walk around in it, then: if it is not described as a hazard it will do magical damage to models that walk around in it. (Example: Razor Wall) if it is a hazard then it will not do magical damage to models that walk around in it. Instead, it does whatever damage type is specified by the spell description. (Example: Breath of Corruption). (Infernal Ruling) If a weapon/spell includes Magic Damage and another kind of elemental damage it will still damage Incorporeal models. Incorporeal models are not affected by the rule "if an attack does multiple types of damage and a model is immune to at least one it is immune to the entire attack." The phrase "immune to non-magical damage" should be interpreted as "immune to damage that doesn't include Damage Type: Magical" (not interpreted as "has immunity to Corrosion and Electricity and Cold and etc.")

Rules Clarification : Chain Weapon - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Dispel      (Edit) Dispel can't be used versus upkeeps that are not "on" a model/unit (such as Rock Wall, Void Gate, etc), because you can't "hit" them. Because Dispel causes spells to expire on a hit, it will prevent spells that trigger on a hit from triggering at all. For instance, the defensive animus Spiny Growth causes any model that hits the target to suffer d3 damage. This damage will not occur if it's hit by a Dispel weapon. Anti-Upkeep vs a unit (Edit) If an upkeep is on a unit, then all you need to do is make it expire off any member of the unit and the spell will expire from the entire unit. It doesn't matter if the target is in formation or not. (Locked thread) However, if an upkeep is on a single model within a unit (such as Scything Touch) then you need to dispel it off that particular model to make it dispel. (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification:  : Warcaster      (Edit) (Click Expand to read)

General Damage from a feat is neither an attack nor Damage Type: Magical (unless the feat says it is). FOCUS (uppercase) is the stat printed on the warcaster's card. Focus (lowercase) refers to focus points a model currently has. Your CTRL area is double your FOCUS stat, not double your focus points. (Infernal Ruling) Casting spells or using feats is an anytime ability with the added restriction that you can't use them on the same turn you run even before you run. See also the clarifications on Any Time abilities (below). Some warcasters are also Battle Engines and thus follow all the Battle Engine special rules. There is no particular interaction between the Battle Engine rules and the Warcaster rules. Work out all damage modifiers (such as Decapitation doubling the damage that exceeds ARM) before reducing it with the Power Field. (Infernal Ruling) Restrictions on "Any Time" abilities     (Edit)         [Show/Hide] "Any Time" abilities can be used at any time during a model/unit's activation, except: Before any compulsory forfeiture of movement/action. See step 2 of the activation sequence, appendix A. After the model with the "Any Time" ability has had their activation end "prematurely". By this I mean you resolved something which includes the phrase "its activation ends". Examples include: Running, failing a charge, or failing a slam. Abilities that include "then its activation ends" (such as Reposition and Teleport). In between declaring your charge target and making your charge movement. (Infernal Ruling) In between completing your charge movement and determining whether it was a successful charge. (Infernal Ruling) When you're in the middle of moving. (Note: Impact Attacks count as being in the middle of movement). When you're in the middle of an attack. Which also includes effects that occur "after the attack is resolved". (Although the attack is "resolved" at Step 11, in terms of using an "Any Time" ability the attack is not "finished" until after Step 14. Refer to the first paragraph of Apdx A.) Your opponent interrupted your activation to trigger one of their own abilities (such as Countercharge). Warcasters/warlocks/etc can normally cast a spell or use their feat "At any time". However, there is a core rule saying they cannot do so on the same activation that they run. So, they are subject to all the same restrictions listed above, plus they can't cast/feat before running. Units: See below. In general you can use "Any Time" abilities while you're knocked down or stationary (except Spells and Feats which specify you can't). If you have a gun with a random ROF, you can use an "Any Time" ability inbetween rolling the number of shots and actually making the first attack. (Infernal Ruling) Units with "Any Time" abilities You cannot use an "Any Time" ability before issuing/receiving orders. See step 1 and 2 of the activation sequence, appendix A. A model in a unit can't use an "Any Time" ability after they run (Infernal Ruling) or fail a charge. Because that makes that specific model's activation to end even though the unit's activation is still ongoing, and you can't use abilities on models that are not active. You can use an "Any Time" ability before running, however. A model in a unit can't use an "Any Time" ability after anyone in the unit has begun a Reposition move. (Infernal Ruling) Warcaster/Warlock Cavalry ( Edit ) Warcasters/Warlocks can't cast spells or use their feat while resolving Impact Attacks. Because Impact Attacks occur during movement - you can use spells or feat before moving, or after moving, but not during movement. Exception: If your Impact target(s) include your charge target, then your movement has ended (refer rulebook, last paragraph of 'Impact Attacks') and thus you're fine to use "any time" abilities before starting the Impact attacks. Rules Clarification:  : Warcaster Unit or Warlock Unit     (Edit) (Click Expand to read) This summary is specific to Warcaster/Warlock units. You may also want to check the Warcaster and Warlock pages respectively, for the "regular" rules clarifications. All models in the unit count as part of the battlegroup. So, for instance, Butcher3's argus can be moved via his Energizer spell. Warcaster units can have attachments. They can even attach units (such as the WSC). (Infernal Ruling) The non-caster models are trooper models but are not normally Grunt models. Therefore they're not normally eligible for stuff like Revive. If any member of the unit start to do their reposition movement, the warcaster or warlock in the unit would no longer be able to feat.(Infernal Ruling) Press Forward Order vs Spells cast at Any Time (Edit) You must issue orders before anything else. If you issue a Press Forward order, you must run or charge. If you cast spells before moving, you can't run so you must charge. If you cast spells before moving, then start the spellcaster's Normal Movement but have no valid charge targets, you are in a situation where you must charge but cannot charge. In this situation the spellcaster must either: forfeit their Combat Action, use their Normal Movement to make a full advance, then their activation ends. (Note that you cannot cast more spells after the full advance). forfeit their Normal Movement, then their activation ends. (Infernal Ruling) Steamroller 2018 The non-caster models can contest scenario zones & flags. The caster model cannot contest. The caster model can control zones and flags by itself, but: to control a zone, the entire unit remaining in play needs to be in formation. to control a flag, the entire unit remaining in play must be within 4" of the flag. Units Buying Attacks (Edit) If you make attacks with model [A], then start making attacks with model [B], you cannot 'go back' and buy more attacks with [A]. Because: A model can only buy additional attacks during its Combat Action. A model in a unit must complete its Combat Action before the next model starts theirs (with some exceptions, like CMA). Rules Clarification : Unit of Warcasters or Warlocks     (Edit) Even though they're warcasters, if they're out of formation they suffer the normal penalties (can't make attacks, actions, spells, etc). They can't upkeep each other's spells. They can only dominate one SteamRoller scenario element at a time. Each warlock/warcaster can have different upkeeps on them if those upkeeps are "target SELF" or "target model". If you cast an upkeep that is "target model/unit", that is the only upkeep any of them can have. Units Buying Attacks (Edit) If you make attacks with model [A], then start making attacks with model [B], you cannot 'go back' and buy more attacks with [A]. Because: A model can only buy additional attacks during its Combat Action. A model in a unit must complete its Combat Action before the next model starts theirs (with some exceptions, like CMA). The Legion Twins Rhyas cannot dominate a zone while out of formation. Rhyas can use the feat while out of formation. Haley3 Only Haley Prime is an 'actual' warcaster model, and as such she is the only one that can dominate a scenario element. The echoes can Control/Contest scenarios like a normal unit. Haley Prime can dominate an element even if the echoes are out of formation.

Rules Clarification : Knockdown      (Edit) Knockdown (Edit) - Remember, knockdown only prevents what it says it does. Refer to the Knockdown page for a recap of what a model can/can't do.

Rules Clarification : Cleansing Fire      (Edit) On a critical hit, all models in the AOE suffer continuous fire, otherwise none do. Rules Clarification : Fire      (Edit) If you deploy in fire hazard terrain (Burning Earth), then you get set on fire before the game starts. Deploying a model in a hazard counts as being "put into play" in the hazard. Being put into play counts as "entering". When you enter a hazard, you trigger the hazard. Moving into "Shallow water" standard terrain does not cause continuous fire to expire. It's magic fire. You can always use non-standard terrain if you agree with your opponent before the game starts, however. A weapon can inflict continuous fire without itself being a fire damage weapon (for example, the Helios's fists). In this case, the attack can hurt models with Immunity:Fire it just won't apply the continuous effect. In terms of which player's clock is running down during the Maintenance Phase: The active player will roll for expiration of all the continuous effects. Then the inactive player will roll for all the damages of the continuous effects. (Judge Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Defender's Ward - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Immolation      (Edit) Rules Clarification : Fire      (Edit) If you deploy in fire hazard terrain (Burning Earth), then you get set on fire before the game starts. Deploying a model in a hazard counts as being "put into play" in the hazard. Being put into play counts as "entering". When you enter a hazard, you trigger the hazard. Moving into "Shallow water" standard terrain does not cause continuous fire to expire. It's magic fire. You can always use non-standard terrain if you agree with your opponent before the game starts, however. A weapon can inflict continuous fire without itself being a fire damage weapon (for example, the Helios's fists). In this case, the attack can hurt models with Immunity:Fire it just won't apply the continuous effect. In terms of which player's clock is running down during the Maintenance Phase: The active player will roll for expiration of all the continuous effects. Then the inactive player will roll for all the damages of the continuous effects. (Judge Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Lamentation      (Edit) Casting Spells Warcaster's that stand outside the Lamentation area, and use an arc node within the area, are unaffected. Magic Abilities do not have a COST so are unaffected by Lamentation. Models that can cast spells with a COST [X] for free (such as Blood Boon or Spell Slave) are unaffected by Lamentation - they can still cast COST [X] spells, they're not limited to COST [X/2] spells. (Infernal Ruling) When combined with other abilities that change COST (such as Tanith's feat "Rites of the Wurm") use normal maths: double/halve first, then add/subtract. (Infernal Ruling) Upkeeping Spells It doesn't matter where the model doing the upkeeping is, it matters whether the model/unit that the upkeep is on is in control range. Upkeeps which aren't on a model/unit (such as Veil of Mists or Rock Wall) are unaffected by Lamentation. Models which upkeep spells by other means (such as Skarre2's Blood Trade) are unaffected by Lamentation. (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Purification      (Edit) Note that this spell will strip all friendly effects as well as enemy. This spell is a "pulse", it only applies to models that are within the area at the time Purification is cast. Against upkeep spells that put a template in to play (such as Rock Wall) then the template must be in the Purification area for you to get rid of it - the position of the caster is irrelevant. Against upkeep spells that are target SELF and range CTRL (such as Fog of War) then the enemy caster must be in the Purification area for you to get rid of it - the position of models affected by the spell is irrelevant. Anti-Upkeep vs a unit (Edit) If an upkeep is on a unit, then all you need to do is make it expire off any member of the unit and the spell will expire from the entire unit. It doesn't matter if the target is in formation or not. (Locked thread) However, if an upkeep is on a single model within a unit (such as Scything Touch) then you need to dispel it off that particular model to make it dispel. (Infernal Ruling)