Morghoul works well with beasts, but has a low Fury, and as such needs help with Fury management. His spell selection is limited. His feat is difficult to plan around, since it is mostly a defensive feat. His smaller control area, and ability to buff the speed of his warbeasts means he has to be very close to the enemy to be able to force his beasts. He is more fragile than the other Skorne warlocks which does not combine well with his other weaknesses. For tournament play, he will be outpaced by the other Skorne warlocks, and take a back seat.
Statline & Abilities
SPD - 7 –High for a Warlock, 10” Charge, 14” Run
STR-6- Mid for a Warlock (See Weapons)
MAT – 8-High-Able to hit a defense 15 on an average unboosted hit.
RAT- N/A
DEF – 17- High for a Warlock
ARM – 13 Low for a Warlock.
Damage-15 Low for a Warlock
Fury- 5- Low for a Warlock
Cmd-8 – Mid for a Warlock
Anatomical Precision
This allows Morghoul to always deal one point of damage as long as he hits, regardless of whether you exceed the ARM. Morghoul will kill a single wound troops, and has the ability to finish off multiple wound models. (Note, this is not an optional ability, so if hitting your own Warbeasts, they will take damage. Also, this is specific to living models.)
Inflict Pain
The ability to remove Fury from your own beasts assist Morghoul in fury management. Additionally, placing fury on an enemy warbeast can limit boosting, deny transference, and force threshold checks. Adding fury to capacity on an opposing beast, slamming it back into the enemy ranks hoping for a failed threshold check and frenzy, forces where your opponent will leech from, while limiting who the warlock can transfer too. Removing fury from an opponent's beast, limits the amount of fury the opposing Warlock may leech. Optimal conditions, would be to remove Fury from a Warbeast, the follow up with your Warbeasts to destroy it, denying any reaving. The use of Inflict Pain followed by Pain and Agony can effectively stop the Enemy Warlock from forcing, and transferring for two turns. (Remove all fury, pop feat, no transfer, no force, opponents turn, no fury to leech, so no transfer, no force.)
Perfect Balance
Perfect Balance negates the effects of CMA/CRA, back strikes and free strikes giving your opponent less ways to hit Morghoul. Not having to forfeit your movement or action when knocked down allows full use of movement, attacks, charging and running each turn. This allows Morghoul to maximize his lower control area.
Weapons
Rippers
Morghoul has two melee weapons giving him a minimum attack of 2 and a maximum attack of 12 (See Double Strike). P+S 9 is the lowest melee weapon attack of any Warlock (save Lylth’s Bow Blade; which is a secondary weapon). The deadliness comes from Anatomical Precision, Inflict Pain and Double Strike. These abilities mixed together has Morghoul able to inflict 12 points of damage (on an average roll against DEF 15; (note: Lylyth, Kaya are the only models that are above DEF 15; sans spells/animus/abilities), place or remove the maximum Fury on any Warbeast, (or multiple warbeasts).
Double Strike
Doubling Morghoul’s attack capacity, coupled with Anatomical Precision guaranteeing damage makes P+S 9 palatable. Morghoul should never boost an attack roll as statistically he has a better chance to hit by just making two attacks. This ability can be mixed with Prescience animus for high DEF Warlocks, Morghoul can attack, hit, then roll his damage. If low, Anatomical Precision will always give you damage, saving fury for extra attacks. If your damage roll is high and exceeds ARM, you can boost the damage. This is a costly combination as the 2 fury cost (even if coming directly from the Cyclops) takes away from 2 fury being used for attacks.
Spells
All of Morghoul’s spells cost 2 Fury to use, with one upkeep and offensive spell. With 5 Fury, Morghoul has the ability to maintain his upkeep spell and cast all spells, (or one spell twice.) This option becomes even more limited as Morghoul’s low Fury will demand boosting on most targets for his offensive spell. As Morghoul has low armour and damage, he will want to keep extra focus on himself for transference. Noting a limited spell list and control area, Morghoul neither excels as a Warbeast or Troop warlock. With Abuse being focused to Warbeasts, and Inflict Pain allowing some fury management, Morghoul does lean towards being a Warbeast Warlock.
Abuse-
Abuse is a solid, straight forward spell. D3 damage for +2" movement and +2 STR for the round on a Warbeast is an equal payoff:
Cyclops-Effective 11" Slam or 13” Charge (Reach 2”) with Power 10/15
Basilisk Krea-Effective 18" range with Spiritual Paralysis, Slam or Charge for 11” with Power 10/14
Basilisk Drake-Effective 16" range with Withering Gaze, Slam or Charge for 11” with Power 10/14
Titan Gladiator-Charge for 9” with Power 18 or Slam for 9” with Power 17/18
Titan Cannoneer-Effective 18" range with Siege Gun. Slam or Charge for 9” with Power 16/17
These numbers are increased when pairing this spell with the Paingivers Enrage action.
Note: With Morghoul's control area being 10", you can quickly have Warbeasts out of his control area when using abuse, and especially when combining it with Enrage.
Torment-
Morghoul's lone ranged attack. Due to Morghoul’s low Fury stat, this spell will often be boosted on the to hit, and boosted on the damage. Notably, it would be easiest to use in conjunction with the target having been slammed and knocked down. (to avoid the boosting roll) This spell will not see as much use as Abuse and Unrelenting are more reliable for the cost ratio.
Unrelenting-
This is a deceptively powerful spell. This may be used to limit multiple strikes on a Warbeast/Troop/Solo as they can move away (if not stationary). Morghoul himself benefits from this spell more often than Warbeasts or Troops as it allows him to avoid multiple strikes/multiple damage. (The Warlock is still considered to have suffered damage even if the damage is transferred; so Morghoul can transfer damage, and move away.) A combination of Morghoul with Unrelenting has Morghoul being the ultimate ‘anti assassination’ Warlock. With a High DEF, and ability to transfer initial damage, it becomes very difficult for standard assassination tactics to kill him. Morghoul can lose or gain 7" to engage or disengage.
Feat-Pain & Agony
Morghoul’s feat is well balanced being offensive and defensive in nature. The important elements of Morghoul’s feat is to ensure you have the enemy Warlock and Warbeasts in your control area. This eliminates a Warlock from transferring damage, and the Warbeasts from being forced, effectively stopping power attacks, slams, charges, boosts, riling and extra attacks. The Fury on the Warbeasts at the time Morghoul uses his feat will be the potential amount of Fury the Enemy Warlock can leech. As the warbeasts cannot be forced, they will have no Fury to leech the next turn. Use of Paingivers Condition action, Basilisk Krea’s Spiritual Paralysis, and Morghoul’s Inflict Pain can remove Fury from enemy Warbeasts before or after Morghoul’s feat. If this is done, you have effectively limited Fury for the opposing Warlock for two turns. This forces the Warlock to go without Fury or damage himself or herself. Be aware that Warbeasts can move out of your control area to become valid transfer targets and/or force. Also note that Gladiators may still slam, Baldur with Woldwatchers/Woldwarden can Charge/Power Attack, and Lylyth’s Blood Lure will allow Warbeasts to Charge a model hit by Hellsinger. In addition to these considerations, remember that the feat is “while within” meaning if Morghoul moves, the effects move with him so carefully view where Morghoul will be, and determine how if he moves due to Unrelenting will effect his control area.
Morghoul’s feat is best used for ‘assassination’. As Morghoul’s charge range is his control range (save the 1/2"), you will always be able to time your feat to catch the enemy Warlock, and make attacks against them with high probability to hit, and always doing damage. With full Fury, you have high odds of doing a minimum of 12 points of damage with just Morghoul, with Prescience (which is costly as it will take away from either attacks from Morghoul, or the Cyclopse) the minimum damage odds increase significantly. This leaves an Enemy Warlock, dead, near dead, or significantly wounded, with no Fury (unless taking more damage to gain fury) for retaliation. If for some reason the rest of your army cannot finish off the Warlock, if Morghoul has Unrelenting (Even with two less attacks, it’s still optimal 10 + damage) you have significantly reduced the effectiveness of retaliation (watch out for Critical Knockdown/Fatality)
Troops/Solo
Morghoul abilities, spells, and feat give a simple, straight forward playstyle; engage the enemy, use the feat, and attempt to kill the opposing warlock. As Morghoul is a Warbeast warlock (due to Abuse) and the fact that Morghoul’s spell list and abilities have no inherent combinations with Troop/Solo’s, Troop selection will focus on filling in the gaps and supporting the warbeasts.
Praetorians
As a low cost ‘point filler’, Praetorians can be a solid, surprisingly cost-effective attack force.
Venators
A minimum unit of Venators using CMA can put out PW 17/18 with an effective range of 18 on medium/large based models. This allows them to target warbeasts or high ARM multi wound troops.
Cataphract Arcuarii
With a high MAT, Reach, and Weapon Master, the Arcuarii are already a heavily armed hard hitting troop.
Cataphract Cetrati
Cetrati are the other side of the Cataphract with less hitting power, but longer staying power due to Shield Wall.
Paingiver Beast Handlers
Paingivers are the only troop to have an inherent bonus when fielded with Morghoul. Matching Enrage with Abuse gives incredible output for a Warbeast, allowing a free charge/slam with a range and strength increase, effectively giving boosted attack and damage rolls (as you would have used the 1 fury to charge). Medicate can restore lost aspects, giving or heal the damage caused by Abuse. With Fury management being a definite consideration with Morghoul, Paingivers become high on the list of troops to take with Morghoul.
Ancestral Guardian
Though the Ancestral Guardian is an excellent Solo model that needs souls in order to play effectively. If taking Paingivers and Praetorians the Ancestral Guardian will have souls.
If he has 5 souls he can have the following:
* 13" threat range, one MAT8 12+4d6 attack, three MAT8 12+3d6 attacks
* 9" threat range, one MAT8 12+4d6 attack, four MAT8 12+3d6 attacks
This also does not take into effect his counterstrikes.
Warbeasts
Morghoul’s main synergy with Warbeasts comes from his Abuse spell. With low Fury and subsequent small control area, Fury management would seem to be very important, but Morghoul can ignore some of these issues due to Inflict pain, and by running a unit of Paingivers. With the focus of Morghoul being single, Warbeast selection should be based upon hard hitting, and ability to open up charge lanes, and making targets easier to hit. This would place the Gladiator, Cyclops, and Krea higher on the list of Warbeasts to take.
Cyclops Savage
Considered to be one of the best Light Warbeasts in the game due to stats to point cost, the Cyclops Savage shines with average damage output and a solid threat range. The Cyclops is high on the list of Light Warbeasts to take in any list and is a clear candidate for Morghoul due to Prescience increasing the opportunity to hit during the all important feat turn.
Basilisk Krea
Though far more support oriented than melee oriented, the Krea is also considered one of the best light warbeasts currently in Hordes. The offensive and defensive combination potentials of Paralytic Aura, Paralytic Field and Spiritual Paralysis with Warbeasts and troops coupled with her 4 fury capability makes her a high candidate list. Having two Krea’s is not overspecializing as they can cover a greater area. If they each have 3 Fury on them, you can still transfer damage to them. Use of dual Spiritual Paralysis can seriously limit the amount of fury an enemy Warlock can reave; a triple bonus if the warbeast has full fury as they cannot transfer to it, and it may frenzy. When viewing this with Morghoul’s feat you can more readily stop Fury for two turns. Krea’s Paralytic Field/Aura can assist in hitting enemy targets by using Paralytic Field on the largest grouping of enemy models (or if necessary, into the back arc of your own model), then move the Krea (charging if necessary; hopefully for free with Enrage) to the next largest group of enemy models. This lowers enemy DEF –3, making them easier to hit.
Basilisk Drake
Stud is a powerful combination with a Sister Krea, especially when coupled with Paralytic Aura, giving the Drake an effective MAT 8 Boosted attack. Withering Gaze has the highest damage output of a spray weapon in Hordes (along with the Carnivean), with Gaze being a powerful secondary effect. Impact has excellent combinations with Venators to move targets off of control points, or skillfully move targets within a line for a slam, or even a spray attack from the Drake. When factoring in that you could take a Cyclops or second Krea cheaper, the choice of the Drake replacing one of them will be determined by final army list composition.
Titan Gladiator
Brutal and effective in its ways, Its damage output is excellent and it has the capacity of survival and high fury output. He makes a powerful counter-charge model and is the only Skorne model that can 2-handed Throw (a very useful ability, especially in tournament scenarios). Subdue is an excellent animus to have as everyone around the Titan can benefit from its denial capabilities. Normally Gladiators have a difficult time keeping up, but with Abuse and a unit of Paingiver Beast handlers to Enrage it, it will be across the battlefield in no time.
Titan Cannoneer
The Cannoneer has the advantage of being a more ‘balanced’ Titan with the best damage output for a ranged AOE in the game, coupled with Diminish effectively giving it an ARM 21 when engaged in melee. The fact that Morghoul is single in design, the Gladiator will outshine the Cannoneer due to it gaining more benefits from Abuse, and being more focused on moving and engaging the enemy.
Minions
Minions will fall into the same arena as the Troops/Solos
Totem Hunter
Totem Hunter is a solid model who’s flying steel attacks can assist removing soft targets during gameplay. Flying Steel attacks or the extra movement (and moving over models) afforded by Vault gives him a large threat range. The potential threat range of the Totem Hunter can make it a low cost flank that is not easily ignored. The Totem Hunter can be used to finish off already wounded Warlocks during Morghoul’s feat turn.
Farrow Brigands
The points investment doesn’t match up with Skorne troops you could take. I don’t see Farrow Brigands making a Morghoul list.
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew
Swamp Gobbers are a great ‘point filler’ unit that can provide denial capabilities with their Cloud effect. This can assist in reducing the amount of ranged attack casualties prior to engagement.
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