Dios Agony Engine

Hello!

In “Coven of 12” Saintspirit proposed new Engine. I thought it's great idea!

So here it is: Dios Agony Engine. Hope You would like it more or less. This is actually "high tech" unit since it require some other units

Points: XXX (don’t know, probably 150-250)

BS2 WS4 S6 T6 Wo5 I4 A3 LD10 Sv 4+

Special rules:
Psyker
Monstrous Creature
Power From Pain
Powered by Pain
Pain Harvester
Night Vision
Hulking Behemoth
Warp Distortion
Coven Bounded

Wargear:
Close combat weapon
Cruicible of Malediction (don't limit Haemunculus option)*
Phantasm Grenade Launcher

*One note - Dios is also affected as "Psyker", however he lose d6 wounds instead of beeing removed from game.

Special rules:

Pain Harvester - may store any ammount of Pain Tokens. In addition, for each model killed he get 1 pain token or Front AV/2 in case of vehicles.

Powered by Pain - each turn Dios move and/or assault and/or run/shoot he uses D6 pain tokens. Otherwise, he get D6 paintokens when standing still. When fighting in CC, this rule don't apply.

Hulking Behemoth - Fleet, Move Through Cover, Slow But Purposeful.

Warp Distortion - 6+ inv save, 3+ cover save.

Coven Bounded - attacks never damage Haemonculus, Grotesques, Wracks and other engines, require Haemonculus Ancient or 2 normal.

Psychic power:

Psyker Choir – shooting attack with following profile
Range 24 s (P-P-Pd6) ][AP (P 6) (PP 1d6) (PPP 1)][, ][3 shots or (P Blast, scatter d6) (PP Template (can be placed within 24", scatter d6) ) (PPP Large Blast, scatter d6)][, (P Ordnance)

P mean using pain token when making attack. For example Attack with profile S 2d6, AP 1d6 and Large Blast cost 2+2+3=7 pain tokens

When Dios is in CC and did not shoot, he may use this power to make additional 1-5 S8 I10 AP1 attacks. Each cost You Pain Token and can’t be used with Pain Harvester to “re-harvest” those Tokens back unless you attack vehicle (then substract ammount of attacks from gained Tokens).

Fluff&stuff:

Dios is marvel of forbidden technology. This enormus construct contain several captive psykers, raving in agony, simultaneously feeding thier minds with ecstatic visions and horrific nightmares, both destroying and revigorating their bodies for endless support of pain.


Design note:
Dios because it's modern Greek "Zeus", fits theme of Talos (big bronze dude) and Cronos (Zeus dad).

I imagine it should look like bird cage with 6 legs, with Psykers inside.
This is something what you get when you'll mix Talos and Cronos, with sparkles and glitter.



Wow, that was long one considering it's 4 AM (Toying with ZBrush and waiting for South Park episode on net. It's Butter's one, looks like it would be gem.). Probably forgot or messed something up ... this is what you get when you get blood transfusion from coffee-pot.

Hmmm...was thinking more along these lines...

An extra-wicked, beefed-up Talos/Cronos hybrid with 4 arms.

Quote :

DIOS AGONY ENGINE...............250 points

WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Sv
5	3	9	9	5	4	D6+2	10	3+

Composition:
• 1 Dios Agony Engine

Unit Type:
• Monstrous Creature

Wargear:
• Armored carapace
• 2 close combat weapons
• Additional arms - adds two attacks to profile (included)
• Soul blast - S10 spirit vortex, rolled against Ld as with Orb of Despair

Special Rules:
• Night Vision
• Power from Pain
• Fearless
• Move Through Cover
• Random Attacks
• Cacophony of Souls - All Dark Eldar units (friend or foe) within 3D6" gain fearless. Roll for the range at the start of each of your turns. All other units within this range have their Ld reduced by D3. Psykers that use their psychic powers to affect anything within this area suffer perils of the warp if Dios Agony Engine removes one of its pain tokens.

Psykers aren't used for anything in Commoragh, in fact they aren't allowed, as it might allow chaotic powers to find the city. That's why the baron was banished, as he had brought a farseer to his kabal. I like however the idea of disrupting enemy psykers, especially since we have no kind of psychic defense.

Also, you don't need to write move through cover as a rule for monstrous creatures, they have that anyway.

Question on Krovin-Rezh suggestion: Is that just a similar variant of the Talos/Cronos, or a bigger pain engine?

Saintspirit wrote:

Psykers aren't used for anything in Commoragh, in fact they aren't allowed, as it might allow chaotic powers to find the city. That's why the baron was banished, as he had brought a farseer to his kabal. I like however the idea of disrupting enemy psykers, especially since we have no kind of psychic defense.
Indeed, no psykers allowed. However I always wondered how they made CoM then? Probably outside the city. That's why I wanted to limit it's use with forced HQ "overseer", since IMHO someone should mantain them between battles without access to webway.

Also, you don't need to write move through cover as a rule for monstrous creatures, they have that anyway.
Right. I actually do same thing Kelly did with Talos and Cronos entries in codex.

Question on Krovin-Rezh suggestion: Is that just a similar variant of the Talos/Cronos, or a bigger pain engine?
I guess it's bigger, maybe even "oval base" size. T9, Wo6? Wow, Tervigon/T-Fex/Trygon can cry in corner.

Anyway I like Krovin's one too! It appears that mine is... gimpish (have good ranged weapon but short range upgrade, is good in CC but slow as hell, may fry itself etc.)

My suggestion was for a bigger, meaner construct than the Talos/Cronos, but it doesn't have to be Stompa sized. Just somewhat larger and more impressive than the current models. The oval base would work nicely, or even a custom base size. That's the great thing about making new units. You make the rules!

Quote :

However I always wondered how they made CoM then? Probably outside the city.

Guess so, that is a bit of a mystery.

Quote :

but it doesn't have to be Stompa sized.

Oh, I'd like a Pain gargant!

How does this sound as a psychic disruptor:

Minos Insanity Engine - 80 pts (not using the name you came up with, as that one was supposedly much larger)
WS4 BS3 S5 T7 W3 I4 A3 Ld10 Sv3+

Monstrous Creature

Wargear: Armoured carapace, close combat weapon.

Solidity field: The Minos holds a device capable of solidifying the reality nearby from the warp, making it immensely hard to use psychic powers. While the Minos is on the field, all psykers must re-roll successful psychic tests. Should they roll a double 1, they will suffer from a Perils of the Warp attack, but must still re-roll to see if they succeed the tests.

Mindshatterer (costs 15 pts): This weapon, slightly similar in effect to the Animus Speculums carried by the Culexus Assassins, fires anti-psychic blasts which becomes stronger the more psykers close to the Minos. It has the following profile:
Range: 18" S: 4 Ap: 2 Assault 2
For each psyker within 12" of the Minos, add +1 to the rate of fire.

Crucible of Malediction: One Minos may take a Crucible of Malediction for 20 pts. Should it do, a Crucible of Malediction may still be taken by a Haemonculus.

Special rules: The same as the Cronos rules.


Apart from that, I am also thinking about something that would work in the same way as the Mind Control power the Dark Archon in Starcraft has... But maybe that would be too much leaning towards psychic...

The Minos is cheap enough to take multiples of, but it's defensive ability doesn't stack. And it needs to do that if it's going to start as such a weak ability. I like the shooting attack that gets better with more psykers nearby. That's a cool idea.

The shooting attack would be murder against GK.

Archon Farath Mure wrote:

The shooting attack would be murder against GK.

I think it would count each GK squad as a single psyker, although I can never seem to remember how the specifics of that rule for some reason. GK vehicles wouldn't count toward the Mindshatterer's rate of fire, since they only count as psykers for psychic tests.

Archon Farath Mure wrote:

The shooting attack would be murder against GK.

He, he... Wouldn't the Solidity field be so too? Well, not so much, but quite annoying i can imagine. Though that is probably more irritating for Eldar.

Quote :

The Minos is cheap enough to take multiples of, but it's defensive ability doesn't stack. And it needs to do that if it's going to start as such a weak ability.

I suppose the solidity field could be something like this instead:

For each Minos within 12", all psykers must re-roll each successful psychic test once. For example, should there be two Minoses within 12" of a psyker, the psyker must re-roll a successful psychic test twice (this exceeds the rule of never re-rolling more than once). Should the psyker roll a double 1 on a not final psychic test, they will suffer from a Perils of the Warp attack, but must still re-roll to see if they succeed the tests.

Written a bit clumsy, but I guess you get the idea. Not sure if it is too good, though.

Seeing as the threads become more of a Pain Engines in general - I hope - I thought I'd add the following. I've been working on it since I read Saintspirit's comment on the 'Minos Control Engine' in the Coven of 12 thread - love the name, really grabbed me, so thanks for the inspiration, though I'll try to come up with an alternative seeing as you've now made a Minos of your own
Points-wise I've no idea, so let me know what you think, likewise the two upgrades are meant to be like those for the Cronos and therefore need more prices as well.
Any opinions, questions, comments etc would be awesome.


Minos Control Engine - 115pts

WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv
5 3 5 7 3 4 3 10 3+

Unit Type: Monstrous Creature
Wargear: Armoured carapace, close combat weapon

Control Hooks - Whenever the Control Engine slays a model in Assault, do not remove the model, instead add the model to the Control Engine's unit treating it as a Hook Thrall as below. A single Minos may only control a maximum of 5 Hook Thralls at any time.


Hook Thrall
WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv
2 1 3 2 1 1 1 - 6+

Weapons: Due to the incomplete muscular control the Control Engine has over it's Hook Thralls a Hook Thrall always counts as having a single close combat weapon

Meat Shield: Even though a Control Engine is a Monstrous Creature it cannot be targeted individually from Hook Thralls by shooting. All wounds targeting the unit must first be allocated to all available Hook Thralls first.

Special Rules: As Cronos

Upgrades:
Mindphase Generator - All models wishing to attack a Control Engine must pass a Ld test. If failed the model has succumbed to the pervasive neural disruption caused by the generator and may not make any attacks in that Assault phase.
20pts

Horrorfex - A Control Engine with a Horrorfex is a nightmarish foe indeed. Able to fire grenades made containing the essence of tortured souls the agony and fear is released forming a palpable miasma. This is a shooting weapon with the following profile.
Rng Str Ap Type
18" - - Assault, Blast
Any unit hit by a Horrorfex must make a Ld test on 3d6, a unit that fails must immediately go to ground, whilst a unit that passes is unaffected.
30pts

personally i'd like to see something more like a baneblade sized pain engine, i doubt a haemonculi with a well funded (well supplied) oubliette would be content with talos/chronos sized monstrosities. though going back to the midas engine, i think it would be more fitting to give it a "hexrifle" spray attack (king that turned things into gold, monster that sprays a virus that crystallizes things)