Before the release of the new From Ashes faction ‘The Zayken’ next Monday December 1st, I thought it would be a nice idea to go through what you’ll expect to see from the new units.
It goes without saying that Zombie Hordes are the lifeblood of the Zayken army. These initial recipients of the Zayken virus are turned into maddened, blood thirsty creatures now completely unrecognisable from their former selves. The first stage on the Zayken mutation path, they swarm forward in a mass of bodies, overwhelming their foe in infected clawing hands and frenzied bites. Not only that, but they are also capable of attacking with belching bile bursts, as after all, these are not completely mindless – they are driven by the Zayken’s gestalt will, and can be tactically flexible when needed. When they do drag down their prey, however, they spread the virus further, adding more zombies to their ranks.
Neophytes are those zombies who have started to recover some of their memories, or perhaps the Zayken hive mind has ‘willed’ them to utilise old weapons they used before. They also have the Recon ability to represent their consumed memories giving the hive mind that extra bit of useful intel. Each carries a ranged weapon, which may be broken and rusted, but nonetheless provide valuable ranged firepower when needed. Where Neophytes stand out however, is that their ranged weapons launch missiles and bullets infused with the Zayken virus itself, making them capable of turning enemy infantry into zombies and forcing them to deal with localised outbreaks threatening their lines. Just imagine yourself in a position where you’re receiving incoming fire, to then turn to your one-time compatriot for them to become a zombie in front of your very eyes – terrifying indeed!
The Spore Slavers are a general-purpose support unit. Typically born of several zombies ‘merging’ and mutating together, they serve to disrupt the enemy force from afar, or simply disrupt their tactical movements. They can launch mind controlling spores, each with a less virulent form of the virus, but these compel the enemy to move towards the Spore Slavers, make them easy prey for other Zayken. Not only that, but when an enemy is in base contact, or within the same terrain piece, they will suffer damage from the noxious spore cloud they emit. Lastly, but by no means least, they passively exude a cloud of line-of-sight blocking spores into the air, making them and their Squad difficult to target, especially at range.
Mind Slaves are perhaps the joker in the proverbial Zayken pack. When a Zayken assault fails, its thralls will retreat into the wilderness to recoup their forces before another attack. Before that, however, Spore Slavers creep forward, often during the darker hours, to infiltrate and corrupt the supplies of said defenders. Eventually, the mind control spores infect enemy soldiers, forcing them to join the Zayken side and so turn their weapons on their allies! The Mind Slaves represent this, where the Zayken player can actually pick a Squad from another Acquisition Roster to use in their force, albeit with a few suitably ‘Zayken’ modifications…
Last, but by no means least, is the Corrupted Anvil. Like the Mind Slaves above, occasionally tank crews will find themselves enraptured by the Zayken hive mind. They then mount their vehicles, before melding with its hull, alongside the Spore Slavers themselves, into something truly monstrous and horrific to behold. It may be missing some of the Anvil’s previous capabilities, but now its chassis is a bloated mass of flesh and metal, which alongside the spore cloud it emits, makes it very difficult to destroy indeed. Its weapon systems have been replaced with a Catalyst Cannon and Spore Burst, which are both capable of turning its foes into yet more zombies. Not only that, but when it crushes enemies under its treads in close combat, it can incorporate the fleshy remains to heal up previously lost health points too!
That’s about it for the breakdown of the new Zayken Units. And before you ask, the answer is a big ‘YES’ – there will definitely be new Zayken units released in the future, representing new bio-constructs the hive mind has willed into existence. I might even have a little concept preview for you at some point…
Next time, you’ll get to read about the army faction special rules – a unique experience for the Zayken player, as units in-game literally change and adapt to the battlefield.
Remember, the Zayken are available on December 1st (that’s NEXT MONDAY) from the Void Scar Miniatures website.
Which unit are you most looking forward to using?
See you next time!
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