“Karn is an instrument of conquest.  In another time he would have carved an empire.  Now he serves mine.” -Supreme Archdomina Makeda.

Molik Karn

Molik Karn is a Cyclops that literally and figuratively towers above all others.  He is without a doubt the greatest melee machine in the Skorne arsenal and possibly within all the hordes factions.  This brutish cyclops lord can lay waste to any opposition.  As if Molik Karn’s melee beatdown wasn’t enough, this cyclops also has several built in abilities to enhance his survivability.

At first I was concerned he may not be worth the 131 points to field him.  Remember 131 points in a Skorne army is equivalent to a full unit of ferox.  However, after giving Molik a few tries I often find myself picking him as my second beast, and my primary offensive beast, in every list.

Stats:Molik Karn possesses an impressive line of stats for a heavy warbeast.  His SPD is 6, giving him the highest SPD among the Skorne heavy warbeast.  He possesses a respectable MAT of 7 allowing him to hit most troops and almost every jack and warbeast without boosting.  (Of course like all Cyclops’ he can boost after making the roll).  His DEF is 13 which is a tad bit higher than most Heavies and he has a respectable armor of 18.  He has 28 circles on his life spirals with his body aspect being the largest.  He has 4 fury.

Abilities: Molik Karn has a nice selection of both offensive and defensive abilities.

Affinity: Makeda: He has an affinity with Makeda allowing Supreme Archdomina Makeda to bond Molik Karn despite the fact he is a unique warbeast.  This in turn allow Molik to ignore the effect of lost aspects and gain +1 Fury.  Molik Karn is a cyclops chieftain.

Cyclops Chieftain: While within Molik Karn’s CMD radius, friendly Cyclops models can use his Threshold and CMD in place of their own.  The truly nice thing about this ability is it is “may use”.  In the heat of battle when beast are running hot with fury, you may want to have a Cyclops frenzy on it’s enemy.  In such cases you can choose to not use Molik’s Threshold of 11.  On the other hand when a Cyclops in the rear arc of your warlock has more fury than you’d like, you can use this ability to try and keep him under the lash.

Fate Ward: During Molik’s activation, he may be forced to use Fate Ward.  Attack and damage rolls against Molik Karn cannot be boosted.  What an incredible defensive boost!  This ensures most enemy forces will only be rolling 2 dice against Molik’s DEF of 13.  Let’s look at what this really means.  Most jacks and warbeasts possess the ability to hit single models hard.  However, they often have a MAT in the 5-6 range.  This means that without boosting they will have to roll average to slightly above average to actually hit Molik.  Most warcasters/warlocks are in a similar predicament but with a reduced P+S weapon.  Troops on the other hand often have a slightly better MAT in the 6-8 category but a reduced P+S weapon.  They often have a slightly better chance of landing a blow against Molik but do reduced damage.  Molik’s Fate Ward ability lends itself to several combinations to further enhance his survivability.  The agonizer can follow behind Molik to further reduce warbeast’s damage die lowering their attack to 2 dice on the attack roll and only 1 dice on the damage roll without the chance to boost.  Fate Ward in combination with Mordikaar’s Void Wind feat forces opponents to roll only a single die on attack rolls vs. Molik Karn without and option to boost for a second die.  This means that only those with a Mat of 7 or better even have a chance to land a blow.  Xerxis’s Armor of Karrak makes a fully loaded Molik Karn able to absorb damage very well.  He’ll have an armor of 22 and without a chance to boost most heavy hitting jacks/beast will do only 3-4 points of damage per hit.

Future Sight: What type of cyclops would Molik Karn be if he didn’t have future sight.  Molik may boost attack and damage rolls after making the rolls.  Future sight obviously makes cyclops more fury efficient.

Guided Strike: When Molik hits a non stationary model with a melee attack during his combat action, he may be forced to use Guided Strike.  When this ability is used, add the amount by which Molik Karn’s attack roll exceeded the target’s DEF to this attacks damage roll.  Notice this ability still allows one a boost die on the damage roll, after you’ve rolled it naturally, thanks to future sight.  IMHO the easiest and most useful way to use this ability in general is to force Molik to use guided strike when he exceeds an opponents defense by more than 3.  The average amount a boost die will add to a damage roll is basically 3, so if Molik exceeds a target’s DEF by more than 3 then forcing to use this ability often becomes a lucrative decision IMHO.  Spells like Death Warrant and Doom Mark, feats like Blackout, and even the simple enrage from a paingiver not only add to Molik’s chances of delivering a blow to his opponent but with guide strike allows him to quickly increase his damage potential.

Hyper Senses: Hyper senses allows Molik to change facing during his activation before moving and allows him to change facing after he has destroyed a model with a melee attack.  This ability further increases his offensive powers by allowing him to charge targets believed to have been initially out of his LoS or to even charge a target and kill it to then simply wheel around and deliver blows to another target within 2 inches.

Weapons: Falchions: Molik has 2 massive falchions at his disposal each with a P+S of 15.  Each weapon has reach giving Molik a threat range of 11 inches on his own or 13 inches under the effects of enrage.

Animus: Fate Walker: Fate Walker initially appears as an expensive 3 fury animus that only effects self.  It allows the effected model to move it’s SPD in inches after all friendly models have ended their activations.  At first I oftened considered this a nearly useless animus.  However, with each game I find more uses for it.  Fate Walker can be used to allow Molik to charge in (charging for free if enraged), make a couple of strikes and then retreat to safety.  Notice though that Fate Walker does not prevent freestrikes.  This spell can also be used to get Molik up field quickly or into attack position.  When used in conjunction with his Fate Ward and possibly an Agonizer and/or Mordikaar’s Void Wind, Molik can quickly advance up field with little fear of any significant retaliation.

Summary: Hopefully this article has demonstrated the effectiveness of Molik Karn.  He can be a tremendous threat to an opposing force and one that is not easily dealt with thanks to his arsenal of defensive abilities.  With the combination of Future Sight and Guided Strike along with abilities to buff his attacks, Molik can lay waste to the heaviest Khadoran jacks and even the most well armored warcasters/warlocks with ease.  It is easy to picture the savagery of the cyclops in Molik karn.  It is easy to picture this enormous single eyed beast, smiling with a mouth of sharpened teeth while he evokes his future sight to catch opponents off guard and deliver a killing blow.  In those instances where he prefers to play with his victim before delivering the fatal blow, he laughs as they expend all their energy in delivering futile blows against his armor.  Molik Karn would have built an empire for himself if not for the Supreme Archdomina.  Now he stands ready at her side, conquering an empire for her.