Mortis Engines.. rule of cool v rule of any good?!?

[Greetings from the Warp]

Hi all, lately been really into the Mortis engine and all my lists have somehow feature one as they are great models..

No rule wise they seem pretty good.. 12 Spectral dagger attacks and once a game of roll well can cause shed ton of mortals etc..

But for those of you that run them - what are they actually like in game terms!?

[Thanatos Ares]

Best thing about them is +1 to cast! NEVER underestimate how good that ability is!!


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[Bradifer]

Needs a list that utilizes 2-4 spells a turn to take advantage of +1 to cast.

Also synergizes best with 2-3 monsters, so you can unleash the casket and heal your own units, in addition to dealing random mortal wounds.

Like most Death Units, mediocre offense and defense. Very susceptible to focus fire.

Dealing ~2ish mortal wounds on spirit attacks is nice, but they degrade on the damage chart, and become useless vs any -1to hit abilities.

Really cool looking model, not bad, requires build around to be useful.

[Greetings from the Warp]

3 minutes ago, Bradifer said:

Needs a list that utilizes 2-4 spells a turn to take advantage of +1 to cast.

Also synergizes best with 2-3 monsters, so you can unleash the casket and heal your own units, in addition to dealing random mortal wounds.

Like most Death Units, mediocre offense and defense. Very susceptible to focus fire.

Dealing ~2ish mortal wounds on spirit attacks is nice, but they degrade on the damage chart, and become useless vs any -1to hit abilities.

Really cool looking model, not bad, requires build around to be useful.

Hey man thanks for this great run down cheers..

It sounds like it needs that wrap around build like you say, however then it means your investing potentially hundreds of points in maxing the use from a 180 point unit. that said Monsters are all good don't get me wrong, and for me I love using Mannfred but I find him dying a bit too much recently ?

[Thanatos Ares]

I second what Bradifer said! That's exactly what I do!

I use VLoZD, GKoZD & GKoT with a mortis engine AND a corpse cart which combine for +2 to cast. Pretty much guarantees all 4-5 buff spells go off every turn


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[Bradifer]

26 minutes ago, Greetings from the Warp said:

Hey man thanks for this great run down cheers..

It sounds like it needs that wrap around build like you say, however then it means your investing potentially hundreds of points in maxing the use from a 180 point unit. that said Monsters are all good don't get me wrong, and for me I love using Mannfred but I find him dying a bit too much recently ?

EDIT: On Mannfred, Mortarch of Night. Yeah, 4+ save on a model that is more expensive and is worse than Spirit of Durthu, and a handful of other behemoths...

Bottom line is that death's points are simply not very efficient, so you need to really min/max your list if your opponent either:

A. Is playing a new-ish army that is simply stronger.

or

B. Is playing a tight competitive list.

You can have some great games if the lists are close, but I find ranged focused armies particularly boring/difficult to deal with.

[CoffeeGrunt]

6 minutes ago, Bradifer said:

Yeah, 4+ save on a model that is more expensive and is worse than Spirit of Durthu

The Mortis Engine at 180pts is not more expensive than Durthu.

[Bradifer]

4 minutes ago, CoffeeGrunt said:

The Mortis Engine at 180pts is not more expensive than Durthu.

Referring to Mannfred, edited to reflect that.

[Greetings from the Warp]

45 minutes ago, Thanatos Ares said:

I second what Bradifer said! That's exactly what I do!

I use VLoZD, GKoZD & GKoT with a mortis engine AND a corpse cart which combine for +2 to cast. Pretty much guarantees all 4-5 buff spells go off every turn


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Wow this sounds a bad-ass monster in list ?

[Greetings from the Warp]

41 minutes ago, Bradifer said:

EDIT: On Mannfred, Mortarch of Night. Yeah, 4+ save on a model that is more expensive and is worse than Spirit of Durthu, and a handful of other behemoths...

Bottom line is that death's points are simply not very efficient, so you need to really min/max your list if your opponent either:

A. Is playing a new-ish army that is simply stronger.

or

B. Is playing a tight competitive list.

You can have some great games if the lists are close, but I find ranged focused armies particularly boring/difficult to deal with.

Thanks for this.. I love Mannfred too and would happily run him every game, just feels he needs that something extra to help him get out of trouble.. but that said am super new at all this so most of my thinking is paper-based.. 

[David Griffin]

I find for 180pts, the Mortis Engine is fine in many Death lists. The +1 to cast to pretty great, and a well timed opening of the reliquary can really break the back of your opponent around turn 3-4.

It's not super powerful, but there is plenty of utility in the unit.

[skool]

They are good support units, and get better the more units you have. Their attacks are good, but not great. Thee casting buff is great, but something I have been more fond of doing is taking two and blowing them up half way through the game to heal all my stuff and finish off some enemy units/models. Of course if you are playing against death I wouldn't take them.

[TerrorPenguin]

20 hours ago, Greetings from the Warp said:

Thanks for this.. I love Mannfred too and would happily run him every game, just feels he needs that something extra to help him get out of trouble.. but that said am super new at all this so most of my thinking is paper-based.. 

He either needs a 3+ save or significant drop in points. 

[KHHaunts]

I love it. I think its very undercosted and find that its a good support unit that you can essentialy use as kamikaze unit when the time is right.

I think however what would really finish it of would be if they would A) give it the night haunt and hero keyword B) make the malignants battlion viable for matched play.

[mmimzie]

Mortis engine wont be a meta breaker but it shines in death by:

 

The mortis engine defensively is pretty tough. With support from ruler of the night its as tough or tough than libs as far as survivability. Making it a good walling unit.

 

The once per game gets better than the mortis engines you have. Multiple explosion going set off bigger battle shocks, alpha strike 2+ rerollable tanks, and also lets the mortis engines heal each other. With 3 you can do 6(aoe)+ 6 (melee) mortal wounds in a single turn, and potentially more with the bravery shooting attack. 

 

These are also our cheapist 14" movement unit if memory serve me right. Making it strong for some scenarios where point denial can be achieved by one. This high movement, flying, and its wallking powers lets it deny space on the board, do all of its attacks on your turn, and the retreat. 

 

Currently, im running 3 mortis engines supporting a VLoZD. Works well for me as the 3 mortis engines are a threat when used together.

[Greetings from the Warp]

On 15/03/2017 at 8:50 AM, skool said:

They are good support units, and get better the more units you have. Their attacks are good, but not great. Thee casting buff is great, but something I have been more fond of doing is taking two and blowing them up half way through the game to heal all my stuff and finish off some enemy units/models. Of course if you are playing against death I wouldn't take them.

Like this idea a lot ?

[Greetings from the Warp]

13 hours ago, mmimzie said:

Mortis engine wont be a meta breaker but it shines in death by:

 

The mortis engine defensively is pretty tough. With support from ruler of the night its as tough or tough than libs as far as survivability. Making it a good walling unit.

 

The once per game gets better than the mortis engines you have. Multiple explosion going set off bigger battle shocks, alpha strike 2+ rerollable tanks, and also lets the mortis engines heal each other. With 3 you can do 6(aoe)+ 6 (melee) mortal wounds in a single turn, and potentially more with the bravery shooting attack. 

 

These are also our cheapist 14" movement unit if memory serve me right. Making it strong for some scenarios where point denial can be achieved by one. This high movement, flying, and its wallking powers lets it deny space on the board, do all of its attacks on your turn, and the retreat. 

 

Currently, im running 3 mortis engines supporting a VLoZD. Works well for me as the 3 mortis engines are a threat when used together.

Oh wow have never thought of running 2 of them.. Like the idea a lot..

Do you think running 2 of them with say a VLoZD and something like a AGKoTG in support!?

[mmimzie]

Yeah i think that would well and might steal that idea from you. 

As i said the mortis engines make good anvil units, and with the two monster they coukd ve used as your hammers, while the mortis engine keep both of them on the table alittle longer. 

 

Nice choice in GKoTG as he has a good self both to keep himself around and is also pretty tough with his heal.  Also as both the vamp and kinf are wizards they will get a nice boon from the +1 to cast.

 

[MightyOwl]

maybe a stupid question, but when it says "heals d3 wounds", does that mean it can bring back models (so bring back d3 1 wound models, as long as it doesnt take the unit above its starting size)? or can it only heal multi wound models?

[skool]

40 minutes ago, MightyOwl said:

maybe a stupid question, but when it says "heals d3 wounds", does that mean it can bring back models (so bring back d3 1 wound models, as long as it doesnt take the unit above its starting size)? or can it only heal multi wound models?

No it only heals wounds allocated to models.