Welcome to what I hope will be the first of many tactics articles posted on this site. I thought it fitting that the first article be dedicated to the enchanting and cruel Warwitch Deneghra. I have found her to be both brutal and merciless on the battle field, in addition to having a simply awesome model, and want to help people better understand her so that they won't shelf her forever when they see the Iron Lich's mighty stats. This article will cover Deneghra's spells, abilities, and tactical dos and don'ts. May the Warwitch bring your enemies to a swift end!

Spells

Deneghra has the best offensive spell list we've seen so far. Here's my thoughts on each of her spells.

Crippling Grasp: This is possibly your best spell. In addition to the always useful stat reduction it takes away running, charging, slamming, and special abilities. Basically, it renders most heavy warjacks darn near ineffective.

Dark Seduction: This spell is not legal under the quickstart rules. I will talk about it after Prime is out.

Death Rage: Currently this can only be cast on Deneghra herself, but this will change with Prime. Very useful if you plan on getting into a one on one fight with the opposing warcaster. Use your free round to take him/her out and go for a draw.

Ghost Walk: Not as useful as Sorscha's Boundless Charge but if your opponent doesn't know to look for it, place a model near one of his models, but with an impassable terrain feature between. He'll let his guard down and you can ghost walk into a fight he wasn't prepared for. The second excellent use is for pulling a model you don't want in melee (say a Defiler?) out of melee because it denies the free strike. A third great use is to set up ambushes. Get a warjack in melee and if the enemy Warcaster gets close, use ghost walk to get out of the melee without a free strike and engage the Warcaster! This is a subtle but useful spell.

Parasite: Very nice against the heavies but use Crippling Grasp first. If you can CG one model and Parasite another, however, things just got bad for your enemy...

Scourge: This is Deneghra's primary "attack." Scourge is best used early in your turn so you can fully take advantage of the knockdown effect.

Venom: A nice secondary attack spell. Not as useful as Scourge but for half the focus cost you wouldn't expect it to be.

Abilities

The Withering: Deneghra's feat doesn't even come close to matching the raw game ending power of Kreoss or Sorscha's feats, but it is useful in its own way. A model under the effect of both Crippling Grasp and The Withering is not going to survive the round. This is best used when you have a full press attack going, especially if some of the attacks are against your opponent's warcaster. Remember, this feat reduces your opponent's focus by two in the next round! This is the strongest aspect of Deneghra's feat and shouldn't be ignored.

Witch Barbs and Stealth: These two abilities combine to make Deneghra awfully difficult to kill. She is virtually immune to long range attacks and the Witch Barbs are priceless. All you have to do is keep Deneghra from getting trapped too close to enemy models and you'll be fine. Given the number of arc nodes you have, this should be pretty easy.

Soul Cage: Not usefull until Prime, but after that...

Sliver: In their FAQ on the Forum, the Privateer Press staff have pointed out that Sliver's Shadow Bind only lasts for one round! This is very important to remember! It is also important to remember that Deneghra doesn't like getting into melee so it may not be worth trying to take advantage of this ability most of the time.

Tactics - What to avoid

Do not get Deneghra into melee combat unless you have no other choice. She is a spell caster. Deneghra loves to be alone and hidden. Put her behind terrain or just plain 10 inches behind your bonejacks. Do whatever you have to to keep her out of the fight and she will be a persistent thorn in your enemy's side.

Don't get too enamored with Shadow Bind. It is very usefull but doesn't offer Deneghra the kind of melee edge that you might think it does.

Lastly, although Deneghra's spell arsenal is potent, remember that your warjacks are pretty much dead in the water without any focus of their own. Remember to reserve enough focus to boost those warjacks. Once they're boosted they're just as effective as any warjack in the game. Also, Venom only costs 2 focus to cast, so you can still do something with Deneghra when you're providing most of your focus to your little jacks.

Tactics - Good ways to win.

If you follow the suggestion above and keep Deneghra out of melee, you'll be in good shape. The first key to using her effectively is to remember your arc nodes. You have three of them on the table if you're just using a starter box so Deneghra has an effective 22 inch range for most of her spells and doesn't need line of site to cast any of them! Press this to your full advantage because it is a major contributor to Deneghra's high points cost! A correlary to this suggestion is always be merciless in your casting of Crippling Grasp and Parasite. The two focus you'll spend on upkeep is well worth it.

Don't get suckered into entering melee with Deneghra unless there's an obvious advantage to doing so. She really isn't designed to hold up well, so she won't. Also, Deneghra is a loner. It is best to keep her several inches away from anyone. Why? She can't be targeted by enemy spells/weapons from over 5 inches away, but her allies can be. If she's caught under a template it still hits and the damage roll can still be boosted. That will ruin her day in a hurry!

Give your warjacks focus when they need it. Scourge is a nice spell but a Slayer with 3 focus points is a nice warjack too...

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this. Go out there and show 'em who's boss! Deneghra rules the battlefield as far as I'm concerned.