Cohort of the King
“I am no mere servant, I do not respond to snapped fingers! But I will lend you aid if I deem it worthy enough of my time.”
Of all the weird, whimsical and unique models in Moonstone, there are perhaps none quite like the essence of Chernitt himself: Echo of the Forgotten King.
At a stonking 11 wounds, +3 Melee Magical damage and a terrifying ranged attack to boot... what's the catch? Well, quite simply, his energy profile. There isn't one.
Why Are You Hitting Yourself?
“Sorry Sire, sorry… If you could just… Sorry…”
Rather embarrassingly, the biggest terror to be unleashed on Tauber today has the same amount of energy as one of his lowly disposable Psychopomps. So, how does this work? Does he simply make his arrival to the table and just spend the game jogging around and looking a little bit scary? Of course not!
With his ethereal yet fleeting presence, he is allowed to sacrifice his Wds to take actions instead of spending energy. With this in mind and the ability for Igor to summon the King in a pinch, one strategy with him is to just summon him, charge in and do as much damage as possible, then die. But what if you fancied building a troupe where he didn't simply rush in and immediately die?
Adding Him to a Troupe From the Start
First of all, much like the Jackalope, he is allowed to be selected in your starting troupe even though he can be summoned. This is a far more reliable way to get him on the table as opposed to Igor's summon, and so it is a great idea when playing a troupe specifically focused on the King. But first things first, the biggest elephant in the room when it comes to playing a troupe focused around the king: the energy issue.
“With us side-by-side, we’ll be unstoppable My King!”
The Viscount
Although he doesn't generate energy, there's no reason he can't use it. To this end, a plethora of Shades characters can help donate energy to the Echo, allowing him to take actions without sacrificing his own stockpile of Wds. Viscount de Faulte is the most simple: steal an energy from an enemy or a willing friend, and donate it to the king. This can be a particularly good early activation in the turn, as it can be used to hamper an enemy and power up the king in one fell swoop. The Viscount can then hang around close to the King in order to make him harder to attack in melee, whilst the rest of the troupe continues to energise him. Things start to get even more interesting with the next set of energy givers.
Energy Gifting and Wound Restoration
“Nanny will kiss it all better while you’re nappy-naping.”
Igor, his loyal servant, is naturally great for this by granting the noble king a bonus energy on any green or pink. Nanny can also gift energy, except she provides it on a pink. Meanwhile, Greymair doesn't need to use arcane cards at all; he just needs a friendly character to be slain. But there is something all these energy givers have in common, which Viscount doesn't: restoring Wds. As mentioned earlier, the king can sacrifice 2 Wds for an action, meaning in some ways 2 Wds is as good as 1 energy! This is particularly relevant for these characters as they have some Wd restoring built into their energy gifting abilities.
Greymair is the easiest example, simply restoring 1 Wd alongside the 1 energy (if a friendly model has been slain). Igor and Nanny on the other hand, can use the blue option in their respective energy gifting arcane abilities, if they don't happen to see an energy gifting card. But that's not all! Nanny has one more interesting option, 'Lullaby'. This forces a character to discard half their energy, then restore 2 Wds. Early on in the turn, this is great for the king, because half of zero energy is... zero, it's just a 2 Wd heal!
Use the Gifts Your Subjects Give You
With all of this in mind, the king has a very methodical and streamlined game plan; spend a few activations building him up with energy, then wade into the opponent’s troupe and rip them to pieces in melee, occasionally using 'Terrorblast' to target enemies at range. Clumped-up groups of enemies are his best target, where he can leverage his extremely powerful signature to blast entire chunks out of the enemy’s troupe in a single strike.
The key to using him in a troupe like this is to be far more prudent with his Wds than normal. Instead, focus on spending donated energy for him to make his strikes, to keep him tough enough to avoid being slain. This isn't an iron-cast rule though, and he shouldn't be afraid to spend a few Wds here or there with the ample amount of healing abilities in the rest of the troupe. His Wds are still a resource that can be transferred into energy, but there is a difference between suffering so much you're slain by enemies and suffering a little to allow your healers a chance to heal.
