Rules Focus: Serelleth, Ember Matriarch
Why fight on your opponent's terms when you can set the battlefield on fire? The Kazyr Rules Focus series continues with the character unit included in the Kazyr Skirmish Pack: Serelleth, the Ember Matriarch.
While Zyrena leads her warriors from the front and the Flareborn Skirmishers rely on speed and positioning, Serelleth takes a different approach. She is a powerful support character who specialises in battlefield control, strengthening friendly units and making life considerably more difficult for anyone standing in the wrong place.
With her ability to manipulate Cinders, summon quite a dangerous and flexible manifestation and enhance the attacks of nearby allies, Serelleth can have a significant impact on the battle without ever getting close to the enemy. Although, as we'll see, she is perfectly capable of making things explode herself.
A storm is coming
Let's start with perhaps her most interesting ability: Ashfire Storm. For one red Essence, Serelleth can place an Ashfire Storm manifestation within 8" of herself. The area within 2" of the manifestation not only blocks line of sight, making it an interesting defensive tool, but it is so much more than that. Models within 2" of it that lack Immunity (Burning) suffer -1 to all hit rolls. And any model entering or completing an action within that area suffer the Burning condition.
Suddenly, that seemingly useful piece of cover becomes a rather unpleasant place to stand.
The interesting part is that Ashfire Storm doesn't distinguish between friend and foe when applying most of its effects. While Serelleth herself is immune to Burning, not every Kazyr warrior necessarily shares that protection. So positioning matters. A poorly placed storm might inconvenience your own troops just as much as the enemy.
Used correctly, however, Ashfire Storm can help protect an important position, discourage enemies from approaching an objective or force your opponent to choose between taking a less favourable route and fighting in the middle of a burning storm. Sometimes the best way to win a fight is to make sure your opponent doesn't want to fight there in the first place.
Spreading the fire
Of course, what would a Kazyr support character be without some way to interact with Cinders? Cinder Sparks allows Serelleth to choose a friendly Cinder within 6" and place another friendly Cinder within 4" of it. Simple? Yes. Useful? Absolutely.
Unlike abilities that consume Cinders for immediate benefits, Cinder Sparks helps you expand your Cinder across the battlefield. And as we've seen throughout our Kazyr Rules Focus series, these are central to how the faction operates.
Zyrena improve the defensive capabilities of nearby warriors through them. Flareborn Skirmishers can consume them for additional speed, while the Emberwrought Tyrant can turn them into extra movement and attacks.
Serelleth helps make sure those Cinders are available where your army needs them.
A well-placed Cinder Sparks can extend the reach of your Essence Weaver's Leadership, prepare an aggressive move for the following activation or establish a new position from which your Cinder network can continue to grow.
Just remember that your opponent can destroy Cinders as well. Spreading the fire is one thing. Keeping it burning is another.
A little extra heat
Serelleth's support capabilities don't end with Cinder placement. Blazeforge allows her to react when a friendly unit activates within 4" of her. For one yellow Essence (or two for larger units), that unit gains +1 to its melee or ranged damage rolls until the end of its activation. This makes Blazeforge particularly attractive for powerful smaller units. And there's a rather obvious candidate included in the Kazyr Skirmish Pack.
The Emberwrought Tyrant already has a formidable melee attack with its Embersteel Sword. Add Blazeforge, and suddenly that enormous weapon becomes even more dangerous.
Combine it with Arcane Infusion, which adds a yellow die to the Tyrant's hit and damage rolls, and you have a model capable of delivering some truly devastating attacks. Of course, there is a trade-off. Keeping Serelleth within 4" of the units she wants to support can expose her to danger, especially when those units are eager to get into melee. So you'll need to think carefully about her positioning. Close enough to provide support, but preferably not close enough to become the next target.
Fireballs. Because, of course.
For all her tactical abilities, Serelleth isn't limited to supporting the rest of your army.
She also happens to be quite good at throwing fireballs. Her Fireball is an arcane attack with an 8" range, and it comes with Critical: Explosive Impact. Whenever Serelleth scores a critical hit with Fireball, other models within 1" of the target suffer an additional, non-infuseable arcane damage roll. That makes her particularly dangerous against tightly grouped enemies.
An opponent who keeps several models close together to protect an objective or benefit from an aura might suddenly find that a single Fireball threatens more than just its intended target. She might prefer to support the rest of the army, but that doesn't mean your opponent can safely ignore her. Especially if they insist on standing so conveniently close together.
Playing with fire
Serelleth introduces a different side of the Kazyr's playstyle. Where Zyrena rewards defensive positioning and punishes failed attacks, Serelleth rewards players who think about how the battlefield will develop over the next few activations.
Ashfire Storm can reshape an important part of the battlefield. Cinder Sparks helps establish the Cinder network your army needs. Blazeforge makes an already dangerous unit hit even harder. And her arcane attack gives Serelleth a way to punish enemies who underestimate her offensive potential.
The key is knowing when to use each tool. Do you spend your red Essence to create an Ashfire Storm that might protect an objective? Do you expand your Cinder network to prepare for the next round? Or do you keep Serelleth close to your frontline warriors so she can enhance their attacks?
With Serelleth, there isn't always an obvious answer. And that's precisely what makes her interesting. Zyrena leads the charge. The Flareborn choose their fights. The Tyrant smashes through whatever stands in its way.
Serelleth makes sure the battlefield is ready for all of them.
The Kazyr Skirmish Pack is complete!
And with Serelleth, we've now introduced all four units included in the Kazyr Skirmish Pack! From Zyrena's defensive synergies and the Flareborn Skirmishers' mobility to the Emberwrought Tyrant's raw power and Serelleth's battlefield control, each brings something different to the table.
Together, they provide a great introduction to the Kazyr's playstyle: an elite army that rewards clever positioning, careful resource management and knowing when to keep your Cinders burning or consume them for a decisive advantage.
Four units. Plenty of fire. And a whole lot of tactical possibilities.
Four units introduced. Four to go!
In the next days we will take a look at what else the first wave of Kazyr releases will contain. Stay tuned and as always ... break the game!
