Thoughts on Disciples of Agony
Perspectives from one who has played far too much Xekaar....
Initial views:
If you're reading this, I'm sure you've taken a look at the recent theme for Skorne entering CID, Disciples of Agony. This theme focuses on the extreme ends of the spectrum of pain as expressed by mortitheurgy, both internalized and externalized. The Disciples of Agony, if you will. What does that mean, though?First off, the internalization: Naaresh and the Nihilators. Ascetics who subject themselves to the most extreme self-mutilation they can survive in order to enhance themselves. As much as I love this concept in the Skorne lore, we're incredibly limited in what we actually have from it. Really, just the one unit and caster. I had been really holding out hope that this theme would crop up as a sub-faction release, most likely alongside an expansion of mortitheurgy in general - think willbreaker units alongside nihilator solos and UA's (also, Genzoul plz).
Externalization, however, comes from the Paingivers - Morghoul, Xekaar, and the various units and solos. I had expected us to get a Paingiver/Minion/Beast theme, a la Hit Squad or Chain Gang. Unfortunately for those who loved Chain Gang, this theme does not allow Rasheth (I'll touch on this more in the next section). It does, however, permit access to Minion beasts - Yep, Rage and Primal in Skorne (as well as 5 point Spiny Growth, Elasticity, and a few other things of note). This seemed pretty absurdly good, at first glance, and really had potential to crack things wide open for some of our list options.
