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WARMACHINE
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Matthew D. Wilson
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Playing Cephalyx
Once a subjects will has been cut away and the body altered
and augmented through cephalomekthe cephalyxs
hybrid of surgery and engineeringa victim becomes
a wholly enslaved drudge. Some are selected for more
extensive procedures and are transformed into hulking
monstrosities. These enslaved creatures are sent forth by
their masters to help capture their fellow countrymen,
who will endure the same horrifying fate.
Table of Contents
A Battle of Wills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Will to Dominate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Painting Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Cephalyx Rules
& Theme Force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Model Gallery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
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In the event that permissions are granted, such duplications shall be intended solely for personal, noncommercial use and
must maintain all copyrights, trademarks, or other notices contained therein or preserve all marks associated therewith. The
process for converting living, breathing people into mindless drudge servants is agonizing, insufferable, and definitely morally
abhorrent. Unless it is affecting copyright violators, in which case it is perfect.
First digital edition: August 2014.
A Battle of Wills
Nothing
was
more
antithetical to the cephalyx
than the Convergence,
yet Thexus had been
forced to scrutinize their
work over many years.
What he had discovered
was disquieting but also
tantalizing.
Loathsome
as they might be, their
knowledge had to be
confronted, not avoided,
though he was alone
among the exulons in
believing this. Thexus
pondered for a moment,
listening to the mental
emanations from those
embattled above while
focusing his gaze on the
pulsing lights of the nexus
generator.
Even as a portion of
his
mind
remained
on those thoughts, he
turned the majority of
his attention to a small
cylinder sitting upon one
of the nearby consoles.
It, too, glowed with its
own light. Years ago that
light had mirrored the
soft blue luminance that
permeated this facility;
now it swirled with an
angry mixture of orange
and red.
The exulon caressed the
essence chamber with
a tendril of his psyche.
<<Your master returns,>> he mentally whispered. A red
glow within the metal housing flared briefly. Thexus
studied the essence chamber and its swirl of colors. <<Yes.
We should greet him exactly as you once welcomed me.>>
Thexus telekinetically flicked switches and turned knobs
across the control console in front of him. In response, the light
within the essence chamber became an orange-red storm. As
Thexus worked, he imparted commands to Crathos.
Thexus finished his work and picked up the essence chamber
with one of his spidery metal prostheses. Intense blue lights
now blazed across the control console. He slowly turned to
A Battle of Wills
and given vivid detail by his sublime intellect. He moved
quickly, driven by an emotion he had not experienced for
some time: excitement.
Thexus reached a passageway branching off the main tunnel
and followed it until it ended in a small chamber. The prison
cell contained a low table fitted with manacles as well as an
assortment of racks along the walls that held surgical tools
equally adaptable to inflicting pain as to performing other
procedures. They were displayed as much for their unsettling
impact on the subject as for any pragmatic purpose, as
this chamber was utilized primarily for the extraction of
information from mortal minds. Thexus considered such
physical ministrations crude but acknowledged they had
their uses. Scouring lesser minds telepathically frequently
resulted in irreparable damage to them.
A priority subject was currently bound to the table.
Overlord Crathos floated at the head of the table next to a
pair of drudges. The augmented slaves were not equipped
for combat. Instead their arms were fitted with more subtle
instruments: barbed pincers, hooked scalpel-like blades,
and spiked rods designed for agonizing penetration. The
various implements wielded by Crathos himself were
extended and ready over the subject.
Opening the communication
<<Crathos, I am here.>>
conduit,
Thexus
sent,
eyes were fixed on the ceiling, and his mouth moved with
silent words. Thexus extended a slender tendril of his psyche
toward the optifex and encountered a barrier of mathematical
theory repeated like a mantra or a prayer. The loop of dense
formulae served to shield the mans deeper thoughts.
<<A strong will,>> Thexus noted.
<<Yes, Exulon,>> Crathos agreed. <<Shall I begin flesh
mortification? I can weaken his defenses.>>
Thexus felt a surge of irritation that Crathos assumed he
needed to resort to such crude methods. The overlord felt
his displeasure, experienced as a roiling mental storm
across the conduit between them. Crathos shrank back and
offered mental obeisance.
Thexus sent, <<If he will not bend, he shall break. Then I
can seize what I need from the fragments that remain.>>
He could have chosen to send the subjects brain to the
preservers, a caste that could carefully slice and disassemble
a mind to absorb its component pieces, but Thexus disdained
those lowly beings and their slow methods. He preferred to
handle the matter himself.
Thexus reached out again with several sharper and
stronger mental probes. The optifexs mind was strong,
his conditioning with the Convergence impressive, but
he was only human. The first probe was deflected, but
before the barrier recovered, three more daggers of mental
force thrust deeply through the priests outer mind, and
his defenses crumbled. A wave of terror and revulsion
rose within the optifex's mind and he writhed on the
table. With another part of his intellect, Thexus had the
drudges hold the man still. He burrowed deeper, picking
up bits of information about the optifex as he did. The
mans name: Hestus. Unimportant. His position: part of a
minor directive within the Temple of the Prime Harmonic,
recently transferred to a newer priority facility. Intriguing.
Thexus wormed deeper still, and then he heard the man
speak, giving voice to his torment for the first time.
Will not... The voice was a ragged whisper, and the
cords on the mans neck stood out with the strain of trying
to fight off Thexus probing assault. Must not... Louder,
more desperate. He was hiding something, guarding it.
Thexus calmly exerted more pressure, slowly bringing
additional tendrils of his towering intellect to bear against
the inferior mind. He withheld his full psychic strength, as
it would be quite easy to erase the mans mind utterly. A
single stray surge of energy could sever delicate connections
between neurons. The optifex still fought, trying to force
Thexus out and keep something hidden. The attempt was
feeble and did nothing more than damage his own brain.
Thexus could feel blood vessels rupturing, and he quickly
stemmed the bleeding while he simultaneously tapped into
A Battle of Wills
which was customary for these gatherings. Few among the
other exulons could match Thexus mental strength and
precision, and it caused him little strain to avert their probes
while sending out his own.
Exulon Pyrexus was the first to be heard. <<The facility you
have shown is impressive. But any attempt to claim it now
would be foolish. It is too large, the Cyrissists too strongly
fortified. The risks are too great. You would expend more
than you would gain. I reject this proposal outright.>>
Thexus felt agreement from the other exulons, threatening
an immediate shift toward consensus against him. In the
aggregate the others could overpower him, but as yet they
lacked shared conviction. He chose to display his strength.
Using the small footholds he had made while probing the
others minds, he weakened their defenses so his telepathic
voice could drown out theirs. <<We must take risks if we
are to reclaim and exceed what we once were. It is utterly
false that we would expend more than we would gain. This
facility could increase our military strength tenfold.>>
A Battle of Wills
to point harmlessly at the ceiling. With its other clamp,
the drudge gripped one of the engineers crab-like legs,
mangling an exposed gear joint. Other drudges swarmed
over the larger engineer, drills, saws, and blades tearing
through its chromed steel and into the delicate clockwork
mechanisms beneath.
The scene was similar across the unfinished chamber, with
drudges dismantling the clockwork vessels with brutal
efficiency. The engineering vessels put up considerable
resistance, but they had been caught off guard and their
forms were not optimized for combat. Within minutes, only
piles of torn steel and smashed servos remained of them.
Thexus sent a mental command for his subordinates to
destroy the Cyrissists essence chambers, which served as
their seats of reason. The manner in which the Convergence
inhabited their clockwork vessels left their psyches as sterile
and unfathomable as their loathsome metal bodies. Because
he could not touch or feed upon their minds, he took little
pleasure in their eradication, necessary as it was.
With the chamber secured, Thexus moved into the
Convergence foundry. His wardens remained in front, ready
to shield their master from retaliation. Behind him came the
footfalls of more monstrosities, the rhythmic thumping of
their heavy tread amplified by the acoustics of the tunnel.
He also heard the harsh sound of steel scraping against
stone: the wreckers dragging their massive chain weapons
behind them. Though Thexus preferred the carnage the
wreckers could inflict, he had brought only two, knowing
they would likely have insufficient room to swing their
devastating weapons in the complexs halls. He relied more
on the four subduers marching behind; their net launchers
gave him considerable tactical flexibility.
The exulon set his army to their tasks. He had mapped out
several key objectives for his forces based on the layout he had
discerned in the dying mind of the optifex. Thexus paused
and watched his forces pour into the pale blue corridors
beyond the breach. He extended his consciousness, seeking
others. He could sense them, even those trapped within their
metal shells, but the facility had that familiar wrongness that
pervaded the Convergence. The emanations here were stale
and unsavory. There were some few living minds, but even
they seemed diminished, as their indoctrination created
rigid and sterile mental patterns.
As he sifted through the echoes of awareness above, a
unique note piqued his curiosity. He sensed something no
less stale and dead but strangely powerful. It reminded him
of encountering Lich Lord Asphyxious, whose formidable
intellect was trapped in bone and blackened iron. The entity
he sensed now flared brightly, suggesting thoughts with
individuality and complexity beyond all others within the
facility. He focused on this, intrigued. The mental energy
10
11
A Battle of Wills
to his touch. There were no neural pathways to grasp, no
tingle of electrical current as synapses fired with living
thought. No invigorating pump of blood, no sympathetic
nervous system to manipulate. The Cyrissists soul was little
more than a collection of preserved memories, a trapped
echo. Thexus race had mastered the domination of life over
millennia. Flesh was theirs to control and shape as they saw
fit in pursuit of their ultimate goal, the transcendence of the
mind. What the Convergence of Cyriss offered was a false
mirror of that goal, a form of undeath, little different from
the necromechanika of Cryx.
12
13
A Battle of Wills
14
15
A Battle of Wills
Thexus drove tendrils of his will into the engineers mind.
It was fascinating to make even the smallest of connections.
How is this possible? he thought, even as he tasked a different
portion of his intellect to analyze the situation. Thexus
turned his primary attention to the control console on the
central machine. <<I do not believe you. I can feel your
hesitancy, your fear. Your masters promised you eternal life.
Now you know that was a lie.>>
Their connection grew stronger as Thexus words agitated
the Cyrissist. Images flashed, memories from the engineers
past. He was recently transitioned; barely a month had
passed since he had moved his consciousness to his
machine body. Thexus wormed his way through the weak
connection, forcing the pathway wider. Despite the lack
of a physical brain, the mans thoughts still followed the
echoes of his old flesh, not yet fully integrated with the
machine. It was as though his consciousness existed within
a remembered approximation of a living brain.
This, together with his long studies of the Convergence,
gave Thexus the access he required. He latched on to the
metaphysical neural pathways just as he would those made
of flesh and blood. For his purposes and at his level of psychic
ability, it did not matter that the constructions were just
instinctual memories. To the engineers consciousness they
were real, and because of that they could be manipulated.
Doing so was difficult, though, requiring Thexus to perform
delicate manipulations of trace energy flows.
<<Tell me how to stop what Lucant put in motion, and I will
let you endure,>> Thexus sent.
No...
But Thexus already had what he needed: an image of the
control panel. He telekinetically manipulated the controls,
following the diagram pulled from the engineers mind.
Immediately the pulsing glow of the tower dimmed.
Thexus summoned Hiraximor. <<Destruction is averted.
Send word to the hive that this facility will be ready soon.
Send out surveyors. Discover what raw materials this area
offers.>>
<<What of the engineer?>> Hiraximor queried.
Thexus turned to regard the Cyrissist, but when he spoke
it was to the overlord. <<Destroy his machine shell, but
ensure his essence chamber remains intact. He and I have
much to discover together.>>
For more about the conclusion of this battle as seen from the other
side, read Through the Darkness: The Story of Machinations,
available for download at skullislandx.com.
16
Will to Dominate
History of the
Cephalyx
Origins
The great first city Urus was laid low not by war or plague, but by
the very hand of the Creator. His tempest of divine wrath was not
directed at Urus alone but at all the land, from one horizon to the
other. The continent buckled beneath the fist of an angry god. The
seas boiled and churned as the sky was lit afire. All the prideful
were slaughtered, their prayers unanswered. The earth split open
to swallow them. The skies rained sheets of flame while the wind
roared in unending fury.
All that had been built was laid to ruin, yet the onslaught did
not end. The Creator had decided to shatter his work like a potter
hurling a fresh-fired jug against the tiles. Those few who survived
knew the people of Urus were cursed, not merely abandoned but
shunned and forever marked. Most surrendered to despair and
accepted this judgment. Some few persevered, though their very
existence was blasphemy. They left their doomed city and fled
across the wastes. Knowing no ordinary shelter would protect
them from the burning sky, they went underground, descending
into the darkness below. Never again would the people of Urus
emerge. They spent their accursed lives entombed, becoming
wretched and depraved. They lurk there still.
Fragment from The Fall of Urus
Memories of the Preservers
17
Will to Dominate
shelter in caves and tunnels, digging deep below Caen to
escape what they interpreted as divine wrath. They thought
themselves cast out and accursed, unworthy of the faith of
their ancestors, which had been left in the ashes of Urus.
In the harsh early decades of their subterranean existence,
the refugees society and existence changed. Early turmoil
among the group led to bloodshed, which was followed
by rigid tyranny by those who enforced a tenuous peace.
Food scarcity prompted starvation and deprivation, which
forced desperate solutions among the survivors. Those
who died became food for those who endured, even as this
cannibalism was understood to be another unforgivable
blasphemy. The need for food and water required brief
raids to the surface, although in time these people adapted
to their environment and learned to sustain themselves on
new food sources found below.
A Transfigured Society
18
19
Will to Dominate
achieve understanding only by performing their work on
living captives, whose reactions were required to apprehend
the brains functions. By this process they confirmed that
here, at last, was the seat of reason.
Cephalomek to Cephalyx
20
Invention of Cephalomek
MONSTROSITY SPINE
Monstrosity Back
Detail Concept
Will to Dominate
22
23
Will to Dominate
met by a hive in the course of regular research, with the
most mentally robust specimens put aside for the exulons.
Still, in times of scarcity this could become a strain on the
hive: yet another reason to limit the number of cephalyx in
the upper tiers of development.
The most powerful exulons proved to be reliant on regularly
siphoning memories and mental energies from the brains
of lesser creatures. Done swiftly, this scoured the subjects
mind and left an empty husk void of higher mental faculties,
useful only for conversion into the simplest drudges. The
eldest exulons demonstrated a hunger outstripping physical
need, an addiction that could force them to take otherwise
unacceptable risks to seek fresh minds to ravage. This was
one reason cephalyx leaders sometimes ventured to the
surface world to engage in battles arguably better left to less
critical members of their hives.
The Lean Centuries
24
25
Will to Dominate
Such victories have had the added benefit of affording the
cephalyx access to powerful energy generators, which they
have sometimes exploited to run their own machinery.
While the cephalyx have their own biological power sources,
Convergence power sources provided a greater and steadier
supply of energy. The cephalyx do not fully understand
Convergence technology, and there are numerous barriers
to reverse engineering this machinerynot least, a strong
distaste for all Convergence techniques. The cephalyx are
willing to ignore their disgust, however, in the interest of
seizing these power generators.
Several Convergence facilities have fallen to the cephalyx
over the decades, enabling the cephalyx to create highly
efficient surgical theaters for such purposes as automated
drudge creation. Where these facilities are retained for
a sufficient length of time, the cephalyx can efficiently
convert hundreds or even thousands of captives into battleready drudges. Generally a hive cannot hold such a facility
indefinitely. Eventually generators fail beyond repair or the
Convergence musters a sufficient military force to dislodge
the cephalyx. Hives seek to exploit these windfalls to the
best of their ability and then retreat to consolidate acquired
resources. There has been no systematic or cohesive effort
by either side to exterminate the other, but deadly conflict
between them has been frequent.
Recent events have seen a marked rise in activity among
the Convergence, and the cephalyx are aware that this
enemy has entered a new phase in their long-term plans.
This threat has prompted the hives to gather additional
forces and stand ready for conflict. Most hives are unwilling
to take aggressive measures, instead preparing against
Convergence forces invading their territories.
An Unconventional
Alliance
26
Cephalyx Society
27
Will to Dominate
Cephalyx Gender,
Reproduction, and Maturity
Cephalyx are born with vestigial aspects of the biological
sexes, although this distinction is largely meaningless. Gender
as a concept does not exist among the cephalyx, and they do
not identify themselves as male or female. For purposes of
language clarity, individual cephalyx might be identified as
a specific gender. Exulon Thexus is referred to as male, for
example. But this concept plays no role in cephalyx culture.
Reproduction is handled entirely in laboratories set aside by a
hive specifically for that purpose, tended by specialized lowcaste technicians. All members of a hive contribute genetic
material sufficient for ongoing production of new cephalyx.
Artificial reproduction requires delicate procedures with a
higher success than failure rate. Cephalyx cannot reproduce
at anywhere near the speed they can create drudges, or even
monstrosities, from captive subjects.
Cephalyx have the means to accelerate growth and
development rapidly in newborn and young cephalyx,
during which time the young are kept in an isolated nursery.
Telepathic methods of education allow them to be ready for
their initial assigned roles. An immature cephalyx can be
transformed into one sufficiently mature to enter cephalyx
society in a few short years.
It takes far longer for a cephalyx to develop the mental and
psychic sophistication to advance beyond initial, usually
rudimentary, tasks. A cephalyx might remain in the same role
for decades before transitioning to a higher function. If a hive
is experiencing a specific lack, focused efforts can be made
to transition the most capable members of a lower caste. This
is typically done only after a hive endures severe casualties.
28
Hierarchy and
Advancement
29
Will to Dominate
cephalomek. With aptitude and decades of practice, these
cephalyx might move from hacking into prisoners in dark,
squalid rooms to performing advanced cephalomek on
cephalyx brains in pristine laboratories and surgical suites,
but only if they can advance beyond the lowest caste.
Drudges are employed for all manner of menial tasks,
including excavating tunnels, carrying equipment,
harvesting food, and serving as disposable weapons for
hive defense. Monstrosities are more valued resources than
drudges, requiring more effort to create and maintain, and
thus they are present in much smaller numbers in a hive.
However, they can also be employed for menial labor,
typically for tasks requiring their prodigious strength.
Several highly specialized roles exist within this lowest caste.
Reproduction centers, for example, represent a relatively
advanced function that is low in status. Those assigned to
oversee reproduction are invariably older cephalyx who
have not risen in stature within the hive. Most techniques
practiced here are simple and represent basic cephalomek,
although those who practice these sciences know there are
unique challenges and difficulties to hive reproduction.
Exulons often place cephalyx noted for high reliability but
low ambition in this role.
Perhaps the most mysterious and loathed caste of cephalyx
are the preservers, a minority of highly specialized and
advanced cephalyx whose sole task is the acquisition and
storage of knowledge. All preservers have undergone
substantial cranial adjustments and improvements,
although along lines entirely different from those of other
castes. Preservers are among the lowest caste of cephalyx
because they regularly violate taboos against direct contact
with flesh. They interact directly with brain matter and
possess specialized appendages and related tools that allow
them to interface with living brains as well as to section and
shave brains of the deceased for detailed absorption. Many
cephalyx can telepathically probe the consciousness of lesser
beings and strip memories, but for the majority this is an
inexact and unreliable process. The most powerful cephalyx
are likely to damage lesser minds before recovering useful
information. Preservers are far more adroit at extracting
such information.
Though captive subjects with unusual minds or
information might be delivered to the preservers so their
brains can be sectioned for absorption, preservers focus
mainly on accumulating and maintaining lore generated
by the cephalyx themselves. Research leaders in particular
are required to regularly transmit their findings to the
preservers. Additionally, members of this caste are
sometimes contacted by leaders who wish to telepathically
access their memory archives, usually to acquire detailed
lore on rare or specialized cephalomek procedures.
30
31
Will to Dominate
rivals. Exulons have an enhanced ability to control
monstrosities and drudges in battle and can augment
multiple allies at once through their telepathic powers. The
cost for these abilities is a persistent hunger for the energies
of intelligent minds. This craving exists among other uppercaste cephalyx but is strongest among the most powerful
exulons, who must regularly feast on mental energies to
maintain their power.
Members of this tier do not work well together: most hives
can maintain equilibrium only under the direction of a small
group of exulons, and some hives are governed by a single
exulon for this reason. Exulons are loathe to allow others to
join their ranks, and the rise of a new exulon is most often
a matter of individual initiative by a veteran akulon or
silexus, usually requiring secret efforts at self-augmentation
and breaking loyalty conditioning. A mind at this level has
reached an evolved state that can no longer endure external
domination. Therefore, exulons are not promoted but rather
begrudgingly acknowledged. This transition is dangerous,
as standing exulons may prefer to destroy someone
aspiring to join their ranks unless persuaded of a benefit to
themselves and the hive.
Among hives with more than one exulon, the idea of
consensus is an essential part of internal politics. Each
exulon is allowed and expected to run private projects,
but major actions involving the coordinated effort of large
32
Cephalyx Warcasters
Some cephalyx have the ability to directly control multiple
monstrosities and wield formidable powers that can transform
a battlefield. Their telekinetic abilities can deflect incoming
weaponry as efficiently as any power field. Such individuals
can fight on par with Iron Kingdoms warcasters, though the
cephalyx themselves do not consider them warcasters. Such
powers are unlocked by the augmentation of the cephalyx
brain; they are not rooted in an unpredictable and rare
inborn talent, nor do these cephalyx leaders have an affinity
for cortexes or mechanika. The ability to telepathically
control and direct monstrosities is an extension of the mental
abilities of these upper-caste cephalyx, not dissimilar from
controlling drudges.
Cephalyx do not technically cast spells or wield magic, though
the psychic powers they manifest function similarly and can
be similarly affected or disrupted. What appear to be spells
employed by individuals such as Exulon Thexus are rather a
manifestation of formidable and versatile psychic abilities.
For this reason, when cephalyx unleash these powers there is
no manifestation of spell runes, only a sickly purple radiance.
33
Cephalyx Warcaster
Special Rules
Healing
At any time during its activation, this model can spend focus
points to heal damage a monstrosity in its battlegroup that is
in its control area has suffered. For each focus point spent this
way, remove 1 damage point.
Monstrosities
Monstrosity
Special Rules
This model can spend 1 focus point to boost any of its attack
rolls or damage rolls during its activation. Add an extra die
to the boosted roll. Boosting must be declared before rolling
any dice for the roll.
Focus: Shake
Damage Grid
Destroyed Monstrosity
Brain
Mercenary
Contract
puppet masters
Army Composition
Special Rules
Exulon Thexus
Will of Darkness
Tier 1
Units:
Cephalyx units
Solos:
Cephalyx solos
Tier 3
Tier 4
Tier 2
Overlord units.
Permission is hereby granted to create reproductions of this entry for personal, non-commercial use only.
35
Exulon
Thexus
Mercenary Cephalyx Warcaster
A mind which will not bend will be shattered.
THEXUS
SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD
6 4 5 4 14 14 10
Prosthetic Blades
POW P+S
Focus 8
Damage 15
Field Allowance C
Warjack Points
+5
Medium Base
Feat:
Telekinetic Tide
The mental powers of Exulon
Thexus are vast and nearly
inexhaustible, and through
them he can reach into the
world to seize hold of his
enemies andmanipulate them
at will. Transformed into mere
pieces on a game board, his
enemies are helpless to resist
the tide of his arcane might.
THEXUS
Pathfinder
Exulon Thexus
Spells
Deceleration
Self Ctrl
No No
Hex Blast
10
13
No Yes
Influence
10
No Yes
Psycho Surgery
No No
Rampager
10
No Yes
Telekinesis
8 No
*
While in this models control area, friendly models gain +2 DEF and ARM
against ranged attacks. Deceleration lasts for one round.
Enemy upkeep spells and animi on the model/unit directly hit by Hex
Blast immediately expire.
Self Ctrl
Take control of target enemy non-character warbeast. You can make one
full advance with the warbeast and can then make one normal attack with
it, then Rampager expires. While the warbeast is affected by Rampager,
it cannot be forced and you cannot use its animus. Rampager can be cast
only once per turn.
Place target model completely within 2 of its current location. When
Telekinesis targets an enemy model, it is an offensive spell and requires a
magic attack roll. A model can be affected by Telekinesis only once per turn.
Tactical Tips
37
Subduer
Mercenary Cephalyx Heavy Monstrosity
We require new flesh. Our greatest living tools will bring it to us.
SUBDUER
SUBDUER
SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD
5 10 5
4 10 17
Net Launcher
L
6 1 3
Impaling Blade
R
POW P+S
16
DAMAGE
1 2 3 4 5 6
L
L M B R
L M M B B R
Field Allowance U
Point Cost
7
Large Base
Eyeless Sight
Net Launcher
Massive
insensate
creations that tower
over humans, monstrosities are masterfully crafted
fusions of meat, bone, and metal. Chosen from those
who have fallen into the clutches of the cephalyx, the
subjects doomed to undergo the grueling process
of transformation are selected for their physical
stamina and mental malleability. These
procedures, which represent an investment
of weeks of work, are among the most
complex surgeries the cephalyx perform
on outsiders. Organs are cut free from
flesh and bathed in alchemical growth
solutions before being reintroduced to
a radically expanded body cavity. Flesh
is pumped with alchemical mixtures
that foster rapid tissue development
and increased bone mass and density.
The final monstrosity is several times
the mass of the original subject, its skin
and bones toughened to endure extreme
punishment. Sensory organs are carved
away and the monstrositys brain attuned to
a psycho-spectrum, allowing it to perceive its
surroundings free of the limitations of the flesh.
Few monstrosities use this superlative vision
better than the subduer. Perceiving the battlefield as
overlapping waves of psychic emanation, a subduer
38
Fleshforger Lexulus
Tactical Tip
Warden
The weapons of our enemies are inconsequential as long as our protectors stand.
Agitator Hrekon
Tactical Tip
WARDEN
Eyeless Sight
WARDEN
SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD
5 10 5
4 10 17
Head Plate
POW P+S
H 4
14
Mecha FIst
L
POW P+S
14
Mecha FIst
R
POW P+S
14
DAMAGE
1 2 3 4 5 6
Head Plate
Buckler
Mecha FIst
Open Fist
39
Wrecker
Mercenary Cephalyx Heavy Monstrosity
Such purity of purpose is a sight to behold, repugnant as its form might be.
WRECKER
WRECKER
SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD
5 10 5
4 10 17
POW P+S
17
POW P+S
17
DAMAGE
1 2 3 4 5 6
L
L M B R
Eyeless Sight
L M M B B R
Field Allowance U
Point Cost
7
Large Base
40
Tactical Tips
Beat Back The attacking model can advance even if the enemy
model is destroyed by the attack.
Chain Attack: Bloodbath A model with a crippled weapon
system cannot use it to make chain attacks or special attacks,
including power attacks.
Mercenary Unit
The mind is a weapon. Thought is sharper than any blade, more explosive than any ordnance.
Tactical Tip
MIND BENDER
Fearless
Officer
Pathfinder
MIND BENDER
SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD
5 6 6 4 14 13 9
Prosthetic Manipulators
POW P+S
DRUDGE GRUNTs
SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD
5 8 5 2 11 15 4
Battering Fists
POW P+S
12
Officers Damage
5
Field Allowance
2
Bender & 5 Drudge Grunts 4
Bender & 9 Drudge Grunts 6
Small Base
DRUDGE GRUNTs
Eyeless Sight
Fearless
Tough
41
Cephalyx
Mind Slaver & Drudges
Cryx Ally Unit
Mind Slaver
SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD
5 6 6 4 14 13 9
Prosthetic Blades
POW P+S
11
Drudge Grunts
SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD
5 8 5 2 11 15 4
Drudge Weapons
POW P+S
13
Officers Damage
5
Field Allowance
2
Slaver & 5 Drudge Grunts 4
Slaver & 9 Drudge Grunts 6
Small Base
Mind Slaver
Fearless
Officer
Pathfinder
Anatomical Precision
When this models melee
damage roll fails to exceed
the ARM of the living
model hit, that model
suffers 1 damage point.
Granted: Combined Melee
Attack While this model
is in play, models in its
unit gain Combined Melee
Attack
.
Drudge Grunts
Eyeless Sight
Fearless
Tough
42
Tactical Tips
Cephalyx Overlords
When beset by other horrors, a man can take comfort knowing his mind is inviolate.
The cephalyx strip even this away.
Tactical Tips
Death Toll The added Grunt can activate normally this turn.
Magic Ability Performing a Magic Ability special action or
special attack counts as casting a spell.
Pathfinder
6 6 6 4 14 13 9
Prosthetic Blades
POW P+S
11
Damage 5 ea
Field Allowance
1
Leader & 2 Grunts
4
Small Base
Anatomical Precision
When this models melee
damage roll fails to exceed
the ARM of the living
model hit, that model suffers 1 damage point.
43
Cephalyx
Dominator
Mercenary Unit Attachment
When the mercenaries turned on us it wasnt treachery. I saw in their eyes they were unable
to stop themselves. Their bodies were no longer their own.
DOMINATOR
SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD
6 6 6 4 14 13 9
Prosthetic Blades
POW P+S
11
Damage 5
Field Allowance
1
Point Cost
1
Small Base
Attachment [Small- or
Medium-Based nonCephalyx Mercenary]
This attachment can be
added to a Small- or
Medium-Based nonCephalyx Mercenary unit.
Selective This unit
attachment can be included
only in Mercenary Contract
armies that list Cephalyx as
possible members.
DOMINATOR
Officer
Pathfinder
Anatomical Precision When this models melee
damage roll fails to exceed the ARM of the living
model hit, that model suffers 1 damage point.
Granted: Fearless While this model is in play,
models in its unit gain Fearless .
Granted: Tough While this model is in play, models
in its unit gain Tough .
Linchpin When this model is destroyed or removed from
play, other models in this unit lose Fearless for one round and
immediately flee.
Ranking Officer This model is a Ranking Officer. While this
model is in play, models in its unit are Mercenary Cephalyx
models instead of Mercenary models.
Sacrificial Pawn [model in this unit] When this model is
directly hit by an enemy ranged attack, you can choose to have
one friendly, non-incorporeal model in this unit within 3 of this
model directly hit instead. That model is automatically hit and
suffers all damage and effects.
What the cephalyx covet, they will claim. When the hive
becomes aware of individuals with exceptional talents they
desire, shadowy figures called dominators emerge from
beneath the earth to enthrall them. A dominator subdues
its subject from a distance, skillfully peeling back any
resistance like a surgeon laying open a chest cavity, until it
can overpower the mind and hold it in bondage. Abducted
into surgical complexes, these subjects endure a masterfully
subtle application of cephalomek that preserves their inborn
talents and outward appearance while utterly binding them
to the dominators will.
Dominators lead their enslaved warriors in missions on
behalf of the hive. They are called upon to conduct covert
raids for such purposes as gathering raw materials for
the hive or confounding the enemy before a coordinated
onslaught. The soldiers a dominator controls might pass
unnoticed among their own kind until positioned where
44
Cephalyx Agitator
Mercenary Solo
There is something to savor in the horror that floods their feeble minds as I force them
to turn upon one another.
Agitator Helixor
Tactical Tip
AGITATOR
Fearless
Pathfinder
AGITATOR
6 6 6 4 14 13 9
Prosthetic Blades
POW P+S
11
Damage 5
Field Allowance
3
Point Cost
2
Small Base
Anatomical Precision
When this models melee
damage roll fails to exceed
the ARM of the living
model hit, that model suffers 1 damage point.
Magic Ability [7]
45
Painting Guide
Glowing Eyes
Step 1) Use Carnal Pink to paint the eye and to sketch in the
light cast around the eyes edges.
Step 2) Apply a glaze of Murderous Magenta, blending the
cast light onto the model.
Step 3) Use Menoth White Highlight to apply pronounced
glowing highlights inside the eye.
Step 4) Make a glaze of Red Ink mixed with a small amount
of Murderous Magenta and apply it sparingly to the entire
eye area to further blend the effect.
Carnal Pink
Murderous Magenta
Menoth White Highlight
Red Ink
46
Cephalyx Black
Step 1) Start by mixing equal parts Coal Black, Exile Blue,
and Sanguine Base. You will use this mixture for the next
three steps as well, so prepare a little more than you will
need for this first step alone. Blend this mixture onto the
robes, leaving the overhanging areas and deeper recesses
primer black.
Step 2) Add a small amount of Frostbite to the mixture from
step 1 and use this to highlight the robes.
Step 3) Add a little Menoth White Highlight to the mixture
from step2 and use this to apply additional highlights to
simulate the look of glossy black leather.
Coal Black
Exile Blue
Sanguine Base
Menoth White
Highlight
Thamar Black
Frostbite
47
Painting Guide
Bruised Flesh
Step 1) Basecoat the skin with a mixture of Ryn Flesh and
Cryx Bane Highlight.
Exile Blue
Cryx Bane
Highlight
Beaten Purple
Trollblood
Highlight
Sanguine
Highlight
Traitor Green
Menoth White
Highlight
Thornwood Green
Midlund Flesh
48
Ryn Flesh
10
11
12
Cephalyx Metals
Dull Brass
Black Iron
Surgical Steel
Brass Balls
Exile Blue
Cold Steel
Thornwood Green
Quick Silver
Umbral Umber
Bastion Grey
Traitor Green
Pig Iron
Thamar Black
Ironhull Grey
49
Model Gallery
exulon Thexus
Mercenary Cephalyx Warcaster
50
Warden
Mercenary Cephalyx Heavy Monstrosity
Subduer
Mercenary Cephalyx Heavy Monstrosity
Wrecker
Mercenary Cephalyx Heavy Monstrosity
51
52
Cephalyx overlords
Cryx Ally Unit
Cephalyx Dominator
Cephalyx Agitator
Mercenary Solo
53