Trikhymaerax, face the thing that should not be

Shadowflame Shard has gotten their gargantuan. It is a fantastic model. However, It must have been a fantastic party with a open bar, when it was decided to give a model with 50 boxes rapid healing. So who and how do we deal with the hangover from a bunch of drunk designers? Can the Motherland actually do anything or do we need to look at some of our allies to deal with this menace? 

The Trikhymaerax

The Trikhymaerax is a beast, which it obviously should be since it is a gargantuan. To begin with, it is a fast one. SPD 6 is one inch faster that all other gargantuan or colossal out there. This gives it an unassisted engagement range of 12" (base 6" + charge 3" + 3" reach). All of its potential four initial melee attacks has reach 3". Obviously, 12" engagement range is not sufficient. So, add a Vypex at 10 points and you have an additional 2" from Hunter's Mark, which can hit an average of DEF 16, boosted. Extra sugar on top is Kyrrax as a Warlock, who has Alpha Hunter for an additional 2" of movement. That is 16"!

It has a multitude of options for heads and tails: 3 heads and 3 tails. If build for maximising attacks it can have 3 initial ranged attacks (POW 14, 15/10, and 13), 2 at range 14" and one at range 8"; and 4 melee attacks (POW 17, 22, 14, and 15). So it's fast, has long range and is a brute. It ticks in at MAT 6 and RAT 6. With 4 fury that is a lot of damage.

It comes base at DEF 11, which is fine; and ARM 19, which is also fine. 50 boxes is on the low end for a 120 mm. But there is a reason for that, which actually makes in on the high end. It has Rapid Healing d3 (When this model is damaged by an enemy attack, immediately after the attack is resolved remove d3 damage points from it.). In a worst case scenario it kind of brings it to ARM 22 without spending resources. Thus, if you can't do a minimum of 22 points of damage on an attack you should seriously think about hitting it. I'm not sure only alcohol was involved in this decision. Mushrooms might have played a role for the design team.   

To add insult to injury, Shadowflame Shard has Dragon's Blood on their rack. That is an extra 2 to the ARM, which for all practical purposes brings it to ARM 24! So, if you can't do at least 24 points of damage per attack, perhaps you shouldn't bother — you might be healing it instead of damaging it. Oh, and Oh, and if it is fighting living models, why not park Ryvyn behind it for an additional 2 points of (pseudo) ARM. That is now ARM 26, which rapid healing. So, dear Steamforge, say after me: "Do not give a 50 box model Rapid Healing, Do not give a 50 box model Rapid Healing, Do not give a 50 box model Rapid Healing".

In many ways. This could be then end of the analysis. Basically don't face the thing that should not be. There is actually a rather enthusiatic analysis by Dice Down Gaming here. That is obviously see from the other side of the table.

However, let's dig into it a bit more. It has, and rightly so a lot of options on heads, tails and animi. However, the prime concern for any opponent is how to deal with it. It is so fast and has so much range that it most likely just can't be ignored. So, it must die!

Who can actually kill a Trikhymaerax?

The main concern is Rapid Healing; secondly ARM 22 under Dragon's Blood. The latter is perhaps the simplest to deal with. There is a universal access to Blessed on the card Blessing of the Gods. This obviously only works for one model. Some models have Blessed build-in. I can only think of House Kallyss' Mage Hunter Assassins, who are not going to damage it anyway. Our own Ilari can do Dark Unravelling. There might be others?

Rapid Healing is the culprit here. To circumvent this we need someway of denying removing damage. Since Grievous Wounds doesn't work on 120 mm bases the options are scare. The options for dealing with Rapid Healing across armies are summarised below.

Table 1: Options for removing Rapid Healing

Army	#1	#2	#3	#4
Necrofactorium	Carver Ultimus Torment	Maulgreth Entropic Force	Lich Lord Dekathus Entropic Force
Gravediggers	Carver Ultimus Torment
Storm Legion	Carver Ultimus Torment
House Kallyss	Carver Ultimus Torment	Maulgreth Entropic Force	Israfyl Entropic force	Seeker Warden Fell Curse
Winter Korps	Carver Ultimus Torment
Old Umbrey	Let's hope that Entropic Force or similar is ubiquitous.
Shardowflame Shard	Carver Ultimus Torment
Sea Raiders	Carver Ultimus Torment	Maulgreth Entropic Force	Orsus Horn of Woe
Brineblood Marauders	Carver Ultimus Torment

So, basically only three armies have good options for dealing with this. House Kallyss being the prime candidate for handling the Trikhymaerax menace. Everybody else is left with taking Big Pig, or actually Little Pig. I was hoping that he would not be as pervasive as he was in 2024. Boy, was I wrong. I'm so happy that I actually did get one and painted him. The problem is of course to get, not Big Pig but Carver within 10" to actually cast Torment. This is within 7" if the beast has Many-Eyed Head equipped or even worse if it is equipped with Negation Tail, you can just forget it. The short story is that five armies probably can't deal with a Trikhymaerax; most importantly Winter Korps can't — or can we?

Winter Korps dealing with a Trikhymaerax

The Winter Korps is left in a bad place for this gargantuan. We could obviously go the Carver way and hope that there is no Negation tail. We do have Blessing of the Gods. So how to deal with it?

Following the logic from above, a Trikhymaerax having ARM, for all practical purposes ARM 24 we need to inflict a lot of damage (50 boxes) and be sure to deliver somewhere between 21 and 24 points of damage per attack to stand a chance (I know that ARM 24 is not the exact truth. It is more likely only 23. However, for the purpose of this, worst case scenario is assume).

What are our options? We are clearly in a Warjack environment, which also negates Ryvyn. We haven't got any troops that can deliver this type of damage. The closest we get are actually Shock Trooper Pikemen, who can get to POW 22 (15 base + 3 model CRA + Puissance + Positive Charge/Kill Order/Fury's Strength) under optimal conditions. So, they might fill a role despite my earlier argument that they are an unpolished gem and likely to stay like that).  However, even four full unit are not going to take a Trikhymaerax out.

In my view we have three potential 'jack configuration for Trikhymaerax hunting: Medveditsa, an AAA (Agressive head, Battle Mace and Battle Axe) Great Bear, and of course the, formerly known as mighty, Mastodon.

Medveditsa

Mother Bear can deliver quite a lot of damage under the right conditions. Her two claws are base 18 POW. She can do Hand of Vengeance, if some cannon fodder is killed nearby for and additional 2 POW. She can take Superiority for speed, Puissance (Rack) and Positive Charge (Tatiana) for extra damage, and of course Kill Order (Valerii) for even more damage.

Yet, she can't really do anything against a fully buffed Trikhymaerax unless she gets some help. POW 18 will only take her to 20 and 21, which is 3 below the required minimum damage. The table below summarises the damage output from Medveditsa if she is under 1 to 3 of the 4 buffs available (Positive Charge and Kill Order are mutually exclusive due to belonging to different 'casters).

Table 2: Mother Bear attempting to deal with a Trikhymaerax

Buffs	Charge	2. initial	Grab & Smash	Focus	Focus	Sum
1 out of 4	0	0	0	0	0	0
Blessing of the Gods	8	5	0	5	5	23
Torment	9	6	0	6	6	27
Both	11	8	2	8	8	37
2 out of 4	8	5	0	5	5	23
Blessing of the Gods	10	7	0	7	7	31
Torment	11	8	2	8	8	37
Both	13	10	4	10	10	47
3 out of 4	10	7	0	7	7	31
Blessing of the Gods	12	9	0	9	9	39
Torment	13	10	4	10	10	47
Both	15	12	6	12	12	57

The good news is that Medveditsa can kill a Trikhymaerax — under perfect conditions. That is: Hand of Vengeance is triggered; she has Puissance on her; she is either under the control of Tatiana who has put Positive Charge on her or Valerii giving a Kill Order; Blessing of the Gods has been played; and Carver has put Torment on the Trikhymaerax. This does not account for a probability of less than 1 for hitting, getting there and assumes average damage.

Getting there is somewhat difficult. Medveditsa "only" threatens 11" (base 5" + charge 3" + Escort 2" + reach 1"), which is less than the Trikhymaerax' 12", 14" or 16". This is under Valerii. Tatiana can only do 9". Obviously, Avenging Force can give an additional 3" (to 14" or 12") if the opponent is cooperating.

She most likely needs help. Unfortunately, brining a friend will result in the friend not having access to Blessing of the Gods, or the combination of Puissance and Kill Order due to order of activation. Tatiana bringing Damien, or positioning correctly, will allow the friend to have acces to both Puissance and Positive Charge. Ilari can fix the lack of more than one Blessing of the Gods, but can only do one damage buff.

Great Bear (AAA)

The AAA Great Bear, with the Aggressive Head, Battle Mace (POW 19) and Battle Axe (POW 18) is a mighty beast. It is comparable to Medveditsa, perhaps even slightly better in damage output, a bit slower and not as good at hitting. This is not surprising as it is one point cheaper at 14 points.  

As with Medveditsa, the AAA can't do anything to a Trikhymaerax without help. POW 19 will only take it to 22 and 21, which is below the required damage output to deal with Rapid Healing. The table below summarises the damage output of an AAA under 1 or 2 of the 3 buffs available.

Table 3: An AAA Great Bear attempting to deal with a Trikhymaerax

Buffs	Charge	2. initial	Focus	Focus	Focus	Sum
1 out of 4	7	0	0	0	0	7
Blessing of the Gods	9	5	6	6	6	32
Torment	10	7	7	9	7	37
Both	12	8	9	9	9	47
2 out of 4	9	5	6	6	6	32
Blessing of the Gods	11	7	8	8	8	42
Torment	11	12	8	9	9	47
Both	14	10	11	11	11	57

The good news is that an AAA can kill a Trikhymaerax — under perfect conditions. That is: Puissance is on it; it is either under the control of Tatiana who has put Positive Charge on it or Valerii giving a Kill Order; Blessing of the Gods has been played; and Carver has put Torment on the Trikhymaerax. This does not account for a probability less than 1 of hitting, getting there and assumes average damage. A small bonus: it does not take Critical Amputation on the Battle Axe into account either. However, there is only a roughly 14% of that on two dice, roughly 40% on three dice. So, to boost or not to boost? That is the question.

Again, the bad news is getting there. The threat range for an AAA is even lower than for Medveditsa. It can do 11" (base 5"+ charge 3" + reach 1" + Escort 2"), under Valerii. Again, Tatiana can only do 9". An AAA will also be far inside the charge range of a Trikhymaerax before it can do anything.

Help is needed. Either from Mother Bear or another AAA. It is conceivable to have to 'jacks under 2 our of 4 buffs. Puissance can be cycled and Kill Order will obviously help everybody. So will Positive Charge, if positioned correctly.

At least two 'jacks working in concert

If we bring two AAAs, or one AAA and Medvedtisa we could potentially kill a Trikhymaerax. Actually, the best option is to bring two AAAs. The first 'jack would benefit from 2 out of 4 buffs, and Blessing of the Gods; the second would benefit from only 2 buffs. The first AAA would deliver 42 points of damage and the second 32. For a grand total of 74. We could even live without Blessing of the Gods, which would result in two times 32 points of damage.

Getting them there is still an issue. They max out at 9" (base 5" + charge 3" + reach 1"), which is significantly less than, both the charge and shooting range of the Trikhymaerax. A Trikhymaerax is not going to shoot a Great Bear to death. Yet, in melee it is going to trivially kill one 'jack and with a bit of help two.

Mastodon

Finally, what used to be the pride and joy on the Empress' army, the Mastodon. Without doing any maths it is clear that one of these should be able to deal with a Trikhymaerax. Yet, for completeness sake let's do the maths. 

The table below summarises the damage output of a Mastodon under 0, 1 or 2 of the 3 buffs available. I have not counted any of the ranged weapons as the either can' deal a sufficient minimum damage or can't hit in close combat.

Table 4: A Mastodon attempting to deal with a Trikhymaerax

Buffs	Charge	2. initial	Focus	Focus	Focus	Sum
0 out of 3	10	0	7	7	7	31
Blessing of the Gods	12	6	9	9	9	45
Torment	13	7	10	10	10	50
Both	15	9	12	12	12	57
1 out of 3	12	6	9	9	9	45
Blessing of the Gods	14	8	11	11	11	55
Torment	15	9	12	12	12	60
Both	17	11	14	14	14	70
2 out of 3	14	8	11	11	11	55
Blessing of the Gods	16	10	13	13	13	65
Torment	17	11	14	14	14	70
Both	19	23	16	16	16	90

It is clear that a Mastodon is a safe bet. Even with just one buff and Blessing of the Gods or two buffs it will take down a Trikhymaerax. As with most other Khador Warjacks, it is the problem of getting there. A Mastodon will have a charge range of 10" (base 5" + charge 3" + reach 2"), 12" under Escort from Valerii. Still to short compared to the Trikhymaerax. So the question remain: can we take an alpha and still kill back?

What can a Trikhymaerax actually kill?

There is no risk to our Warjacks when it comes to shooting from the Trikhymaerax. All though, a dent will obviously be made. However, not enough to kill one of our 'jacks. So the main threat is from a Trikhymaerax charging us. 

It is trivial to get a Trikhymaerax to reach out and touch something at 14". It has a base of 12" (base 6" + charge 3" + reach 3") and we can either add a Vypex for Hunter's Mark for 2" or Alpha Hunter if under Kyrrax. For the full monty, both can be available for a threat range of 16".

If we build a Trikhymaerax for maximum melee damage (which might not be the best), it will have 6 initial melee attacks and 2 ranged. The table below shows the expected damage.

Table 5: Expected damage output from a charging Trikhymaerax

Weapon	POW	Damage	ARM 20
Bite	17	24	4
Arcane Bite (assuming upkeep on target)	19	29	9
Gulper Head (charge)	22	32	12
Void Tail	14	21	1
Spine Tail	16	23	3
Barbed / Toxic Tail	15	22	2
Immolation Blast	15	22	2
Frost Head	14	21	1
Sum	34
Gulper Head (focus)	22	29	9
Gulper Head (focus)	22	29	9
Gulper Head (focus)	22	29	9
Gulper Head (focus)	22	29	9
Sum	36
Sum	70

A charging Trikhymaerax can trivially remove two Khador 'jacks or one Mastodon. This is assuming that it can charge for free under e.g. Kyrrax. This makes perfect sense, since it is a huge and pricey gargantuan. So, something like that is to be expected.

Our main issue here is the threat range. We have to counter around 14" charge range from the Trikhymaerax. Assuming we need as many buffs as possible. It is hard to get beyond the 8" mark (base 4" + charge 3" + reach 1"). Escort from Valerii can add 2", Superiority 2" (we are loosing a buff), Conferred Rage from Yana 2", we might skip a 2. initial from a Great Bear for another inch. On paper we can get 13" on a 'jack, if we skip one buff (base 4" + charge 3" + Escort 2" + Superiority 2" + reach 2"). Avenging Force could be a trick up the sleeve.

The other option is overwhelming force. That is enough 'jacks. Some for the Trikhymaerax to eat and some for killing it. Screening might be an option to see if we can lure it closer. However, there are probably other stuff in the army as well. It is a difficult situation.

A list for killing a Trikhymaerax?

To kind of think about a list to kill a Trikhymaerax, our first intuition is: 'jacks, and lots of them. We need a 'caster that can stack damage buffs. One could think about Ilari for Drak Unravelling. However, he can only do Puissance. I think the two real options are either Valerii or Tatiana. They can both swing damage with 4 points. Let's just pick Tatiana as an example.

Kommander Tatiana Sikora

 - AAA Great Bear [14]

 - AAA Great Bear [14]

 - AAA Great Bear [14]

 - AAA Great Bear [14]

 - Medveditsa [15]

 - Battle Mechanik [2]

 - Battle Mechanik [2]

 - Arkanists [4]

 - Arkanists [4]

That is 89 points, which is 11 points for having fun. The list obviously needs to include the card Blessing of the Gods. I'm not sure such a list would be good for anything else.

The second option is of course to just play around a Trikhymaerax. I think that is difficult. Oh, and did I mention that they have FA:2?

Summary

So, I think it is a cool model. It is expenssive and a center piece. So, it should be dangerous. However, Rapid Healing is just plain stupid. Without it, it would probably still have be a fantastic model.

Anyway, this is perhaps just me being grumpy about the thing that should not be. Unless there is something obvious I have missed, I think Rapid Healing here is what we all fear the most: a negative play experience. I can't see that there is a real point in putting models on the table if there is a Trikhymaerax on there other side; let alone two. If anybody has a solution, I'm all ears.

Until next time.

For the Motherland!