Unique Killing

WarLord H0urg1ass's Guide To Killing Unique Figures

I put this little guide together just for my own reference but then I decided to share it with everyone. Hopefully, everyone, especially newbies, will find a good use for this. Also, I have to thank Sir DMKY for providing additional info for this guide.

I purposefully left out both the Heirophant and the Storm Golem because they usually aren't faced as a single unit. Stormie is almost always accompanied by other units and the Heirophant is also usually flanked. There are already several threads at the MKrealms forums on how to best destroy them.

It is my opinion that most players lean heavily on their uniques. It is for this reason that I attempt to kill or maim them as quickly as possible. This, in most cases, is just as psychologically damaging to them as it is strategically damaging to them. However, this does not supersede the first rule of MK tactical combat which is: Maim/Kill the support units first!

Here we go:

Troll Chieftan

When facing this baddie remember one thing in particular: Avoid base to base contact with him. If you just can't avoid being in base to base with him, then remember one other thing. NEVER do exactly four clicks of damage to him. Because of his toughness, the damage will be reduced to three clicks. This puts him right on his first click of Berserk and you will be facing a hellacious creature that has an attack of 12! and a damage of 5.
AFTER you have made sure that you don't end up with him on his first click of berserk, keep in mind that his 7th and 8th click of damage are both regeneration slots. Don't let him land on these if at all possible. Keep him on that 6th click until you have enough firepower to drop him.

Wraith

This baddie is very difficult to face in nearly any situation. Odds are VERY good that anyone using a Wraith will be using hindering terrain to cover her. The best strategy, IMHO, is to draw her out of hindering terrain in any way that you see fit. Your first objective after getting her to come out of hindering terrain is to smack her for 3 points of damage. This will put her on an equal movement footing with the rest of your troops. (8" movement range). From this point on, I would stay just outside of her puny 8" range and drop her with a longer ranged sniper. Don't depend on magic blast to help you out, she NEVER loses magic immunity. Avoid close combat unless you have a great defense or are sure you will be able to get the first strike in.

Paladin Prince

Most people are using this character in a game for two reasons. Non magical healing and/or command. After 3 clicks of damage the healing is gone and after 5 clicks of damage the command is gone. After that he's pretty easy to take down. Especially since he loses his magic immunity after the 5th click too.

Necromancer

If you see this thing in an army, then the chances are real good that there's gonna be lots of zombies and skellies. If this is the case, take the necro out as SOON as possible. Because of the new necromancy ruling about the victory conditions, it won't matter how many points you make against them, they will still win if they are able to outnumber and destroy/capture/demoralize you. So, concentrate all firepower on that super star destroy.... ahem...necromancer..

Amazon Queen

What can I say? Every single ability has an SA. My most favorable strategy against her is to wait until she has taken an action and move something with either a good range or magic blast BEHIND her. If she wishes to confront your piece, then she'll have to spend another action turning. Then push your character to make sure you do three clicks of damage to her. She loses all of her SA's but gains battle fury. From that point on, just make sure that she doesn't get the chance to heal and she won't bother you much more.

Magus

If he has a figure in contact with his base at the end of your opponents, then follow this three step plan. 1) Check to see the movement range on all of the figures, that are touching his base. 2) Check to see the ranged attacks of all of the units touching his base. 3) Add these two distances to 10". Take the larger number and make sure that your most vulnerable characters are outside of that range at all times. Then put expendable units just within range of the figure that is going to be ML'd. If the player makes the mistake of ML'ing to attack them, then just move your fastest pieces to flank Magus. He becomes almost worthless after ONLY three clicks of damage. In my personal experience, he is also an easy unit to capture with something like a *** shade.

Order Of Vladd

This guy is a close combat monster. As with most figures, the best way to take him out is with ranged units. Make sure that you do at least three damage to him. This drops him from a 5 damage to a 3 damage. This ALSO opens him up to MB attacks. Another reason to stay out of b2b combat, is because his vampirism (Which he has at EVERY click after the 3rd.) will keep him in better shape than your own warrior, especially if you are matching hits fairly equally.

Dwarven Jarl

Avoid b2b combat initially. Hit him for 4 clicks and his Weapon Mastery will disappear. This character is also the slowest unique on the battlefield. His starting movement rate is a measly 6". This means that flanking him will be no problem. Don't bother trying to use any type of MB attack or ME attacks against him, because his MI doesn't go away until his very last slot of health. Also, don't bother trying to capture him after he has taken 4 clicks of damage. Don't underestimate his firepower. He starts doing only 3 clicks of damage, but it never gets any lower.

Magus Draconum

This guy is one tough bastard. The best thing to do is to stay outside of his firing arc and then move in and do at least 3 clicks of damage. This will drop his attack down to a 9 which isn't very good considering he can't be healed through magical means. Once you have done 5 total clicks of damage to him, then try to get in the last 4 clicks as soon as possible. This is because his MI goes away and he will be subject to magical healing.

Elemental Priest

When you see this awesome supporter, you will probably see troll artillerists with him. The best way to take him out is to flank him, since he probably won't have much more to his army, if you're lucky. His defend SA is his most valuable asset but it disappears after 4 clicks of damage and is down to a 15, which an average defense, after 3 clicks. His Magical Healing ability is very good initially but his attack drops down to a 6 after 3 clicks which is pitiful.

Chaos Mage

Piece of cake, just shoot the thing and if you can get him to his MI stage, he's done. One important thing to do when you know that you will be battling this piece is to memorize each click and it's corresponding SA's. This guy has beaten many an opponent just because they didn't realize what SA was coming up next.

Magna Draconum

one TOUGH dragon, the exact same starting stats as the Storm Golem number wise, and only 68 points. the downside is he has no ranged combat options, so if you can get in the first hit, great, he can fly away, heal, and try again. Luckily he only has 2 clicks of flight total, so after taking one hit he won't be flying away to be healed. At this point you only need to worry about his toughness which is around for 3 clicks of damage.

Mystic Draconum

I pass this guy off as a joke in 200 pointers, he is easy to kill if you have a high attacking unit. However, he is incredibly useful in 300 point armies or higher just because his Magical Healing, Magical Immunity and Magical Enhancement last for 6(!) clicks each.

Neophant

This should be, How Don't you kill a Neophant? If you see this dragon, expect him to be capturing, decoying, or distracting. If this is a players only unique, then his strategy is probably aimed at swarming you with weenies. In this case you won't have to concentrate on wiping him out first.

WarLord H0urg1ass