The unit type we call ‘monstrosities’ covers a huge variety of very large, undoubtedly threatening, and oftentimes strangely beguiling creatures. What they all have in common is that they are big – monstrously so – and to represent them in the game of Mythic Americas, requires a few extra rules. One of the things that make monstrosities different from all other units, is that they may have two or three order dice rather than one.
Because some monstrosities have more than one order dice they can take more than one action in a turn. This means, for example, a monstrosity unit could be given a run order with its first dice and make a 2M move, and subsequently, be given an advance order with its second dice, move 1M and make ranged attacks. This makes them extremely powerful entities to wield on the battlefield but as ever in wargames, such power brings heavy tactical scrutiny from your opponents, who will do their utmost to prevent you from unleashing a monstrosity’s full potential.
Tribal Nations – Wendigo
The Wendigo is the monstrosity choice for the Tribal Nations and is a powerful force to behold on the battlefield. With two Order Dice and the Woodsmen special rule, the Wendigo can perform its four attacks from an ambush to obliterate enemy units.
The Way can affect the way you play a Wendigo. A Wendigo under The Way of the Everliving provides a guaranteed ambushing moment with the speed to charge the offending unit. A Wendigo under The Way of the Everchanging can be instantly prepared to ambush at a specific time in the game, thus spoiling an enemy attack plan.
The Aztecs – Quetzalcoatl
Unlike other monstrosities, the Quetzalcoatl is a powerful spellcaster. With special rules of Fast and Flies, the winged serpent can move around the field with ease and reach most parts of the battlefield with its spellcasting ability. The Quetzalcoatl’s multiple melee attacks, high stats and Venomous ability make it a force to be feared in melee as well. Coming stock as a Magic level 2 unit, you can opt to boost this to Magic Level 3. In Mythic Americas, a wizard’s magic level can affect the efficacy of a given spell, for example, the Aztec spell ‘Sun Smite’, is a magic missile that has a range equivalent to 10″ x the user’s magic level.
Additionally, The Way may affect how you use your Quetzalcoatl. An Everliving Quetzalcoatl can boost the Magic Level of a selected caster while an Everchanging Quetzalcoatl can affect the results of a magical miscast – potentially saving your own caster or destroying an enemy’s.
In this video, Warlord’s in-house painter Kirsten chats about how she tackled the Quetzalcoatl. She discusses her inspirations and techniques for painting the imposing ‘miniature’ in a vibrant and striking colour scheme. She handily supplied us with the paints she used in case you’d like to try the colour scheme for yourself:
The Aztecs – Ayar
The Ayar is the ultimate tar-pit unit against standard warriors with an incredibly high resistance value. An undead monstrosity, the Ayar can threaten enemy units with its strong melee attacks and by hurling corpses as a ranged attack. The Stuck In rule makes it difficult for enemy units to escape combat with the Ayar – forcing nearby units to take an order test at -1 command when assigned an order dice. Failure compels that unit to charge the Ayar.
Through Everliving spells or the influence of the Everliving Ayar monstrosity, friendly undead units can be healed as long as the unit is not completely destroyed. Healing can actually return removed models back to the affected unit. An Everchanging Ayar, however, can force the enemy to charge it, disrupting the enemy’s well-laid plans.
The Inca – Maras
The Maras is a monstrously large and terrifyingly fast snake creature that can join any Inca warband. The Maras is a formidable foe, either smashing an enemy to a bloody pulp with the deadly Macuahuitl of the Gods or sweeping aside lesser foes with a flick of its serpentine tail. It is a brave or foolish warrior who challenges the might of the Maras, and those who remain at a distance aren’t necessarily safe either. Beware the Spit Venom for when hit by venomous attacks a target will suffer an additional hit as a result.
The slithering Maras has options in melee to strike with incredible force or attack more numerous foes and can still slip away after the combat. An Inca Maras of The Way of the Everliving can entice other units to follow it into battle for a devastating alpha strike. Conversely, an Everchanging Maras, on the charge, is capable of slamming his foes to the ground and out of the pursuant melee combat.
The Maya – Camazotz
The utterly terrifying Camazotz, or Death Bat, is a divine creature of nightmares. It rises from the underworld at the behest of Mayan priests to aid them in war. Silent as the night air, it strikes without warning and those who witness its baleful presence cower in terror as it shreds its victims to tatters. The miniature is huge, looming over most of its foes on the battlefield (the Quetzalcoatl is its only real rival in terms of size).
Camazotz coming to pre-order soon
Capable of a Baleful Gaze that can set the staunchest of guts aquiver on the battlefield, across multiple units at once. An Everchanging Camazotz capitalises on its already terrifying visage, and impacts heavy penalties on foes’ Command values.
Whatever form they take, these monstrosities share a few traits in common from a hobby perspective. They are all beautifully sculpted miniatures that draw the eye and provide a suitably impressive canvas for hobbyists to flex their painting chops. Even if you don’t play Mythic Americas, these are ideal pieces for any fantasy wargame or roleplaying system.
