Combat Alchemists

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Combat Alchemists Crucible Guard Unit

These soldiers combine alchemical talents with traditional combat training to support more conventional military units. Carrying a variety of specialized alchemical grenades, they can effectively assault many different targets. Combat alchemist teams are drilled in path-finding and skirmish warfare, as they are often deployed in advance of a larger army to neutralize key threats.

Basic Info

Combat Alchemists
Missing Info
	COST {{{cacost}}} UNIT SIZE {{{casize}}} FA {{{cafa}}} Warcaster 0 BASE Small SPD 6 STR 5 MAT 5 RAT 6 M.A. N/A DEF 14 ARM 11 CMD 7 ESSENCE {{{essence}}} FOCUS N/A FURY N/A THRS N/A HP 1 F. Field N/A WJP {{{wjp}}} WBP {{{wbp}}} IHP {{{ihp}}} FA 3 UNIT SIZE 3 COST 7 2.3 pts each N/A N/A Warcaster 1 COST N/A N/A Understanding the Statblock

Abilities

• Advance Deployment
• Immunity: Corrosion
• Immunity: Fire
• Pathfinder
• Alchemical Mask - This model does not suffer gas effects. When determining LOS or resolving attacks, this model ignores cloud effects and concealment granted from cloud effects.
• Prowl - While this model has concealment, it gains stealth.
• Smoke Bomb (★ Action) - Centre a 3" AOE cloud effect on this model. This AOE remains in play for one round.
• Swift Hunter - When this model destroys one or more enemy models with a basic ranged attack, immediately after the attack is resolved it can advance up to 2".

Weapons

Alchemical Grenade
		RNG			ROF			AOE			POW
		6			1			3			12
Attack Type - Each time this weapon is used to make an attack, choose one of the following special rules: Acid Bomb - Models hit suffer a POW 12 corrosion damage roll and the Corrosion continuous effect. Blood of Urcaen - This attack causes Magical Damage. On a critical hit, upkeep spells and animi on the model/unit hit immediately expire. Ice Cage - This attack causes no damage. Instead, a model hit suffers a cumulative -2 DEF penalty for one turn unless it has Immunity: Cold. When a model without Immunity: Cold is hit with three or more Ice Cage attacks in the same turn, it becomes stationary for one round.
Dagger
		RNG				POW				P+S
		0.5				2				7

Theme Forces

• Crucible Guard
  • Magnum Opus
  • Prima Materia

• Other Factions
  • Infernal players can use this unit in the Hearts of Darkness theme, but only if Lukas is leading the army.
  • Mercenary players can use this unit in the Llaelese Resistance theme. This unit becomes Llaelese and gains Pathfinder in this theme.

Recent Changes

2021.10 Quality of Life Update

• Are no longer a free option in either theme.

Thoughts on Combat Alchemists

Combat Alchemists in a nutshell

The Combat Alchemists are a unit that can produce an advance deploying smoke wall and throw around grenades that both eliminate infantry thanks to automatic corrosion, and debuff high DEF targets thanks to Ice Cage - neither of which need to hit directly.

After the “Drugs are Bad” CID update they gained swift hunter, pathfinder and 1 of their most used shot types improved. This is all great as it adds to their mobility and improves board positioning. However with other models in fact also being buffed and with another competing unit on the horizon it’s unlikely they will see much more time on the tabletop.

Combos & Synergies

• Other Combat Alchemists to get that Ice Cage or smoke wall. Two units in Prime Materia is very common.
• Suppressor is another source of ice cage.
• Run a couple of units in front of your army to create a cloud wall.
• Baldwin - Veteran Leader makes them RAT 7, which is very good.
• Railless Interceptor - Exhaust Fumes grants them concealment to trigger Prowl.

Drawbacks and Downsides

• You cannot screen huge bases with clouds.
• Blood of Urcaen only has a 1/12 chance of triggering per Alchemist (assuming the target is Def 12). This is not high enough to be considered reliable unless you can land multiple attacks, and should really only be considered viable into larger units.
• Combat Alchemists are very vulnerable to anti-cloud tech (such as Eyeless Sight or the Steelhead Arcanist), as their primary utility is often to drop a wall of clouds to protect your low ARM models from enemy shooting.
• 3 person units are seldom worth casting spells on.
• If you get tied up in melee, you won’t do much with a P+S 7 response.
• With swift hunter they can be 8" away from what they just threw bombs at. Which is not a great place to be in for squishy units.

Tricks and Tips

• Combat Alchemists are very flexible, and should never be considered useless models even when the unit is down to its last man.
• Blood of Urcaen has a 1/12 chance (assuming a Def of 12) of removing upkeeps per attack. This means a full trio of these guys has a 1/4 chance of triggering when attacking a unit, provided they can land all three of their attacks. This goes up 1/12 for each additional attack which lands. A tightly packed unit is unlikely to keep their upkeeps when facing Combat Alchemists.

Other

Trivia

Released with the Faction launch (2018.06)

Other Crucible Guard models

Crucible Guard Index       (Edit)
Battlegroup & Similar
Warcasters	Benett - Gearhart - Locke - Lukas - Mackay - Syvestro
Warcaster attachments	Aurum Legate Alyce Marc (Crucible) - Sylys Wyshnalyrr (Mercenary) - Madelyn Corbeau (Mercenary)
Other Warjack Controllers	Prospero (BGC)
Light	Liberator - Retaliator - Vanguard
Heavy	Suppresor - Toro - Vindicator
Colossal	Vulcan
Units, Solos, Battle Engines, & Structures
Units	Combat Alchemists - CG Assault Troopers - CG Infantry - CG Rocketmen - CG Storm Troopers - Dragon's Breath Rocket - Failed Experiments Ranking Officer : Doctor Alejandro Mosby
Solos	Ascendant Mentalist - CG Mechanik - Gorman1 - Gorman2 - Hutchuk, Ogrun Bounty Hunter - Prospero - Rocketman Ace - Trancer
Battle Engines	Railless Interceptor
Theme Forces
Magnum Opus - Prima Materia
Mercenaries
Refer to Who Works for Whom and/or Category: Crucible Guard Mercenary
This index was last updated: 2021.05

Rules Clarifications

Rules Clarification : Advance Deployment      (Edit) Sometimes you can attach a WA or CA that doesn't have AD to a unit that does have AD. If you do, the attachment effectively gains AD and they can all advance deploy together. (Locked Thread)

Rules Clarification : Alchemical Mask      (Edit) Although a "hazardous cloud" (such as Breath of Corruption) sounds like it would be a gas, it isn't and you don't ignore it. Stuff is gas only if it says it's gas. Alchemical Mask ignores clouds for LOS and the +2 DEF concealment bonus, but a target in a cloud still 'has' concealment so the target can get Prowl to work. (Infernal Ruling) Alchemical Mask does not ignore Syvestro's "Super Stealth" that he gets via Impenetrable Haze. (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Corrosion      (Edit) If you deploy in corrosion hazard terrain (Acid Pool), then you get corroded 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. A weapon can inflict continuous corrosion without itself being a corrosion damage weapon (for example, the Acidic Touch animus). In this case, the attack can hurt models with Immunity: Corrosion it just won't apply the continuous effect.

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 : Pathfinder      (Edit) Pathfinder (Edit) - Pathfinder does not apply to involuntary movement (pushes & slams). (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Prowl and/or Just a Tree?     (Edit) Whether you can trigger this ability is a bit awkward; As long as you have concealment you get Stealth ... even if the attacker ignores concealment (such as with Hunter). If you're standing in a cloud, and the attacker "ignores clouds for LOS" (such as Bird's Eye) you get Prowl/Tree. If you're standing in a cloud, and the attacker "ignores clouds completely" (such as Alchemical Mask) you don't get it. (Infernal Ruling) Similar for standing in a forest. If a debuff removes Stealth, Prowl/Tree do not reapply stealth... But this ruling is being rechecked. (Infernal Checking) Rules Clarification : Stealth      (Edit) Stealth models are not invisible and you can target them - you'll just auto-miss most of the time. You can target them with a charge. You can target them with an AOE, have it auto-miss and scatter, luckily land on top of them anyway, and that will hit them.

Rules Clarification : Smoke Bomb      (Edit) While this model is in the centre of the cloud, no one else can get concealment from the cloud. Cloud radius = 1.5" = 38.1mm. Small base radius = 15mm. That leaves 23.1mm space, which is not enough for another small base.

Rules Clarification : Swift Hunter and/or Overtake     (Edit) The free move must be resolved before other abilities that involve attacks (such as Quick Work or Berserk). Refer Step 12 vs 14 in Appendix A. This ability does not trigger off special attacks, only basic ones. An important difference: Swift Hunter can be triggered by any attack, including out-of-activation attacks. Overtake only works on attacks during your Combat Action. Even stuff like Impact Attacks won't trigger it. If you make a free strike during your Combat Action (for instance the enemy used a special rule to move during your Combat Action) you can trigger Overtake on that free strike. It still counts as being during your Combat Action. (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Attack Type and/or Arcane Savant     (Edit) If you forget to declare your Attack Type before rolling the attack, and you and your opponent can't agree on a fair fix, then the Judge's Policy is that the first listed Attack Type is the one that will be used. If your target can only be targeted by certain kinds of attack (ie a Menoth warjack with Passage), you can first choose the correct Attack Type (ie Magical Damage vs Passage) and then that allows you to target it. The Attack Type selection and target declaration both occur at Step 1 (Refer Appendix A). (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Acid Bomb      (Edit) Rules Clarification : Corrosion      (Edit) If you deploy in corrosion hazard terrain (Acid Pool), then you get corroded 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. A weapon can inflict continuous corrosion without itself being a corrosion damage weapon (for example, the Acidic Touch animus). In this case, the attack can hurt models with Immunity: Corrosion it just won't apply the continuous effect.

Rules Clarification : Blood of Urcaen      (Edit) The anti-spell part of this rule functions identical to Dispel, so see below. You choose your Attack Type during Step 1 of the Attack Sequence. So, if your target can only be targeted by certain kinds of attack (such as a Menoth warjack with Passage), then you can choose an Magical Damage attack type and target it. (Infernal Ruling) 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 : 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 : Ice Cage      (Edit) Models with Immunity Cold can be damaged by this attack, they just ignore the DEF penalties. Remember, stationary only prevents what it says it does. Refer the recap on stationary for what models can/can't do. Abilities that say they cannot be used if the model is stationary (such as Shield Guard) cannot be used while a warjack is inert, either. Refer "Warcaster Destruction", page 59 of the core rulebook.