Blighted Nyss Archers

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Blighted Nyss Archers Legion Unit Officer & Ammo Porter Command Attachment

Corrupted and reshaped by Everblight’s will, the blighted Nyss have become eager accomplices in the dragon’s murderous schemes. At the onset of battle, blighted Nyss archers rain down an unending deluge of arrows on enemy fortifications. Blighted swordsmen, at one with their prized blades, then close in to finish off what’s left of the demoralized foe.

Basic Info

Blighted Nyss Archers
Missing Info
	COST {{{cacost}}} UNIT SIZE {{{casize}}} FA {{{cafa}}} Warcaster 0 BASE Small SPD 6 STR MAT 5 RAT 5 M.A. N/A DEF 13 ARM 11 CMD 8 ESSENCE {{{essence}}} FOCUS N/A FURY N/A THRS N/A HP 1 F. Field N/A WJP {{{wjp}}} WBP {{{wbp}}} IHP {{{ihp}}} FA 2 UNIT SIZE 6 / 10 +2 CA COST 8 / 13 +5 CA 1.3 each (excl CA) 1.5 each (incl CA) N/A Warcaster 1 COST N/A N/A Understanding the Statblock

Abilities

• Everyone
  • Combined Ranged Attack
  • Reposition [3"] - At the end of an activation in which it did not run or fail a charge, this model can advance up to 3", then its activation ends.

• Officer only
  • He has +1 MAT & RAT, and 5 hitpoints
  • Officer
  • Granted: Combined Arms - While this model is in formation, models in its unit gain Combined Arms. (Combined Arms - When a model with Combined Arms misses an attack roll for a combined ranged attacks, it can reroll that attack roll. Each attack can be rerolled only once as a result of Combined Arms.)
  • Tactics: Practiced Maneuvers - Models in this unit gain Practiced Maneuvers. (Practiced Maneuvers - Each model in this unit can ignore other models in this unit when determining LOS and can advance through them if it has enough movement to move completely past them.)

• Ammo Porter only
  • Ready Ammo - While this model is in formation, the ranged weapons of models in its unit become ROF 2.
  • Take Up - If this model is destroyed, you can choose a Grunt in this unit within 1" of it to be destroyed instead. Effects on this model expire, and it gains the effects on the chosen Grunt. Remove the Grunt from the table instead of this model. This model has the same number of unmarked damage boxes as the chosen Grunt.

Weapons

• Leader, Grunts, & Officer

Nyss Longbow
		RNG			ROF			AOE			POW
		12			1			-			10
Arcing Fire - When attacking with this weapon, this model can ignore intervening models except those within 1" of the target.
Sword
		RNG				POW				P+S
		0.5				3				7

• Porter
  • Unarmed - This model has no weapons.

Theme Forces

• Children of the Dragon.

Recent Changes

No changes since 2020.09

Thoughts on Blighted Nyss Archers

Command Attachment

Blighted Nyss Archers in a nutshell

The Blighted Nyss Archers are the fragile, ranged infantry element of the Legion's lists. Like Cygnar's Long Gunner Infantry, Khador's Winter Guard Rifle Corps, or the Houseguard Riflemen of the Retribution, they shoot relatively far, and with CRA they can be both deadly and accurate. They also die in droves once enemy fire starts falling into their direction but have a built-in Reposition to dash out of the enemy's threat range once released their volleies. Unlike the above mentioned competitors though, screening models are often negated thanks to their Arcing Fire rule.

They don't look like much on paper, but for their low cost even with the CA they can get a surprising amount of work done in the right list.

Thoughts on adding the CA

Their attachment is basically an automatic inclusion - if you want archers there's no credible argument to skim on that 5 points (if they're not your free card). The Porter doubles ranged damage potential just by being there in formation, and the officer buffs accuracy with CRA re-rolls, offer more freedom in positioning and selecting targets. For other model interactions, consider the following:

Combos & Synergies

Casters

• Blood Thorn from Bethayne1 makes Archers the bane of shield walled, single wound infantry and gives them +2 POW on their arrows to boot.
• Bethayne2 - Her feat is pretty much the ultimate way of keeping the oh so important ammo porter alive. -2 ARM on their targets via Dissolve or her own gun is very neat, too.

• All 4 Lylyths can make good use of the Archers:
  • Lylyth1's Parasite is one of the few casters who can indirectly buff Archers' damage.
  • Lylyth2's Pincushion and feat give Archers enormous flexibility and potential damage output. You can take anything between 33 POW10 shots or 3 POW21 shots depending on how you mix up your CRAs. Gunfighter might be useful if they got jammed in the early game.
  • Lylyth3's feat won't do much in terms of direct damage, but allows you to reliably invoke stationary upon the majority of the enemy's forces. Wind Wall can help keep them safe if you can manage to keep them close to her, but it tends to be harder to archeive than it's worth. Find a wall or a forest to hide in instead.
  • Lylyth4 - Mortality is excellent with a unit that has 22 shots and her feat was practically made for them.
• Rhyas1 and Vayl2 - Occulation makes you nigh immune for long-range, non-AOE fire.
• Thargrosh1 can use Fog of War to grant Concealement and help keep the Archers safe from stray shots on the way up, but mind your order of activation as unlike Legion beasts, Archers do still care about Concealement.
• Vayl1's Incite will make a full-unit CRA reach POW 23 if you want it to. Since they're a ranged piece, they can hang back a little more safely as well.
• Kryssa1 - Cloak of Ash and a tough bubble is more likely to keep them alive than any armour buff - shame they get nothing from her feat.

Non-casters

• Like every other Legion unit, the Archers love Kiss of Lyliss from Blackfrost Shard, which doesn't discriminate between melee or ranged damage - most Legion damage buffs specify melee only, or are straight STR buffs, so Archers can really appreciate this when trying to damage models outside their weight class.
• they are Blighted models so gain Vet leader from the Blight Archon - though the Archon is more likely to be too far forward for the nyss to benefit.
• Cast Blight Storm with a Blighted Nyss Sorceress & Hellion on a heavy, and let the arrows fly. Guaranteed 22 damage with the Ammo Porter.
• Yssylla - Shatter Storm on Archers means they utterly mince infantry and RFP them to boot, which is very strong in recursion heavy metas.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• They have no Pathfinder, making the navigation through difficult terrain troublesome (especially for their Reposition move).
• Slightly shorter range than their competitors in the other factions; once you're in range, so are they. Use Reposition wisely so they may have to give up on their aiming bonus at least.
• The Porter is a lynchpin model, basically doubling the unit's damage output - he has a bullseye on his head. Also, watch out for RFP effects on him if you want to use take-up.
• 22 shots / activation sounds pretty neat, but it also burns your clock in timed games (especially with re-rolls and Shatter Storm). Practice accordingly.

Tricks & Tips

• If in doubt and in a hurry, use 2-man CRA. The +2 to hit/damage buff vs the "cost" of losing one attack is often the most cost-effective choice.
• If you're doing CRA and some of your unit can aim but the rest need to move to get into range, always use the aiming models to lead the CRA and the moving models to contribute to the CRA. That way the CRA will get the aiming bonus.

Other

Trivia

• Unit released way back in Primal Mk1 (2006)
• CA released in Hordes: Evolution (2007)

Other Legion models

Legion Index       (Edit)
Battlegroup & Similar
Warlocks	Absylonia1 - Absylonia2 - Anamag - Bethayne1 - Bethayne2 - Fyanna2 - Kallus1 - Kallus2 - Kryssa - Lylyth1 - Lylyth2 - Lylyth3 - Lylyth4 - Rhyas1 - Saeryn1 - Saeryn2 & Rhyas2 - Thagrosh1 - Thagrosh2 - Vayl1 - Vayl2
Other Warbeast Controllers	Beast Mistress - Blight Archon - Thagrosh0
Lesser	Blight Wasps - Shredder - Harrier - Mekanoshredder - Stinger
Light	Afflictor - Naga Nightlurker - Nephilim Bloodseer - Nephilim Bolt Thrower - Nephilim Protector - Nephilim Soldier - Raek - Teraph
Heavy	Angelius - Azrael - Carnivean - Golab - Neraph - Proteus - Ravagore - Scythean - Typhon - Seraph - Zuriel
Gargantuans	Archangel - Blightbringer
Units, Solos, & Battle Engines
Units	Blackfrost Shard - B.N. Archers - B.N. Hex Hunters - B.N. Legionnaires - B.N. Raptors - B.N. Scather Crew - B.N. Swordsmen - B. Rotwings - B.O. Warmongers - B.O. Warspears - Chosen - Grotesque Banshees - Grotesque Raiders - Hellmouth - Ice Witches - Strider Blightblades - Strider Scouts - Spawning Vessel - Virtue Host
Solos	Ammok - Annyssa Ryvaal - Beast Mistress - Blight Archon - B.N Shepherd - B.N. Sorceress - B.N. Warlord - Craelix - Forsaken - Fyanna1 - Grotesque Assassin - Incubi - Spell Martyr - Strider Deathstalker - Succubus - Thagrosh0 - Virtue Champion - B.O. Warmonger War Chief - Yssylla
Battle Engines	Throne of Everblight
Theme Forces
Children of the Dragon - Oracles of Annihilation - Primal Terrors - Ravens of War
Minions
Refer to Who Works for Whom and/or Category: Legion of Everblight Minion
This index was last updated: 2021.11

Rules Clarifications

Rules Clarification : Unarmed      (Edit) Since this model has no weapons it does not have a melee range. This means it can't engage other models, declare charges, or make free strikes Also it can't gain abilities that require a melee range (such as Ragman granting this model Dark Shroud). However, other models that do have melee weapons can engage this model. So this model can still gain the "target in melee" shooting bonus.

Rules Clarification : Combined Ranged Attack      (Edit) CRA cannot target models in melee ... unless the target is a huge-based model or the attacker has War-Tempered. If you give the attack-leader a buff to their attack (such as Guidance) then that buff applies to the combined attack (even though the other participants don't have the buff). (Locked thread) Assault & CRA (Edit) You cannot mix Combined Range Attacks with Assault shots, as CRA works during your combat action and Assault shots occur before it. (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Reposition      (Edit) Models out of formation cannot move via Reposition. Refer to the "Out of Formation" rules in the core rulebook. End of Activation (Edit) You cannot resolve two end-of-activation movement effects (refer to "End of Activation Movement" in the core rulebook). For EOA stuff that doesn't involve movement, though, it gets a bit more murky: Some EOA abilities explicitly state your activation ends as part of resolving the ability (like Reposition), and some don't (like Refuge). Whether it is explicit it or not, by definition an EOA ability is the last thing you can do for that activation. For instance, if you resolve Refuge and then continue your activation to cast more spells, then you have not used Refuge at the end of your activation. You cannot do an "at any time" ability during or after triggering an EOA ability; you cannot cast spells, purchase additional attacks, use a mini-feat, etc. If you start resolving an EOA movement (such as Reposition) then you cannot trigger abilities that occur "at any time" (such as Go To Ground). Because you can't trigger it while resolving the EOA movement, and after the EOA movement your activation has ended. (Infernal Ruling) For units: if any model in the unit starts resolving the unit's EOA movement, then no model in the unit can trigger an any-time ability. (Infernal Ruling) See also the training article: LPG - End of Activation.

Rules Clarification : Officer      (Edit) Even if they're not on the Officer's card, an Officer can give (and benefit from) any non-standard orders that are on the unit's card (such as Shield Wall). Refer main rulebook. A Ranking Officer can't do this, though. When the Officer dies, the Leader model becomes the new Unit Commander (you don't get to choose). But if your unit doesn't include a Leader model, then you do get to choose any of the remaining models to be the new Unit Commander. You don't swap the model, but it may be worth putting a token down so you can tell that grunt apart.

Rules Clarification : Tactics vs Granted     (Edit) Granted = The unit loses the ability as soon as the model that grants it is taken off the table. (think "G for Goes away") Tactics = The unit keeps the ability for the entire game, regardless of who dies. (think "Tac-Tick = K for Keeps")   Granted [ Vengeance ] If the model granting Vengeance dies, the unit will not get any Vengeance attacks. It is "If you have Vengeance, and you were damaged last turn, you get a move+attack." It is not "If you get damaged, you get Vengeance next turn." If you lose Vengeance halfway through resolving Vengeance, then you stop resolving Vengeance immediately. (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Combined Arms - None yet. (Edit)
Rules Clarification : Practiced Maneuvers - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Ready Ammo - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Take Up      (Edit) If you use Take Up the attacking model cannot trigger anything that needs the attacker to "Destroy" a model (such as Alpha Hunter, Killing Spree, Berserk, etc). Although the model that was attacked reached the Destroyed step of the timing sequence, Take Up negates that entirely. (Infernal Ruling)

Note to Editors To edit the CA's tagged abilities, Click here