Mythic Americas from A2Z; Of High Priests and Magic

 Tlalocan High Priest

I'm kind of a smash mouth player. I generally choose Warlords that are combat oriented, tooled up to gallop, march quick-step, fly or teleport with their retinue right into the thick of things. See the nail, swing the hammer!

But like all other Tlalocan High Priests in an Aztec Warband Ahuatl, (my High Priest) is anything BUT a lead from the front "Follow me Men!" type of Warlord. In general he is usually leading from the rear, or fortified flank protected by meat-shields of the Bound Dead variety.

Ahuatl's stats are average to below as compared to other faction Warlords. Even his Command, stat is 8 while other Warlords are at a 9. He only gets a single attack in Hand to Hand and can buy a 2nd wound while other Force Warlords can buy up to a 3rd. Yes, he is equipped with a Macuahitl. For a single attack. If he has to swing it he's already in big trouble.

And just to add insult to injury? Other Warlords can be mounted. Yup, move faster, get more attacks, hit with more attacks and maintain even better survivability.

My hope here is that players of other Mythic Americas' Forces will under-estimate Tlalocan High Priests. That's how your fate is sealed when facing Aztecs.

Tlalocan High Priests are decidedly and by design master SUPPORT characters. My man Ahuatl doesn't need to swing his Obsidian loaded beat down paddle. He is there to sling MAGIC for which he is well equipped.

He starts at Magic Level 2 while other "wizards" start at Level 1. The Tlalocan Priest becomes extremely point efficient upgrading to Level 3 while other magic users are Level 1 with no upgrade available or can upgrade to Level 2 and some even Level 3 for a much steeper point cost.

Having The Aztec High Priest start on the table top at his basic Level 2 allows him to take what I consider his two most basic spells; Armor of the Gods and Power Siphon.

These two spells alone make the Tlalocan High Priest worth his weight in Hummingbird feathers. The Bound Dead now become more than viable in Hand to Hand hitting on 7, 8 on the charge. Think about that; 10 Bound Dead hitting at strength 8! Want to hold an objective or swamp an enemy unit to slow them down? Armor of the Gods will up their save to a 7!!

Now think about how devastating those same spells can be on Aztec elites such as Jaguar Warriors or Bound Marauders. Those Bound Marauders are Strength 7 with Macuahitls, Strength 8 on the Charge and Strength 10 with Power Siphon? YES PLEASE!!

All that is great to begin with but up him to a Level 3 Magic User and he shines as bright as Huitzilopochtli. Arm him with a third spell such as Sun Smite and he's buffing units while smiting units that dare to get too close with lightning bolts!

Simply put the spells available make the Tlalocan High Priest super versatile and a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.

But wait, there's more...

The Aztecs as a MA Force are well versed in Magic. So much so that a single Magic User could not hope to wield all that magic goodness. Enter the Spider Sisters;

 The basic unit of 3 Sisters enters the battlefield at a trim 55 points. You can build them to a unit of 5 for an additional 12 points (@ 6pts each additional Sister). The additional Sisters won't increase their Magic Level of 1 but adds two more wounds to the unit. They come with Tough as well to increase their survivability. They do well enough against ranged attacks with a Command of 9. But make no mistake, if engaged they are going down fast! 

But for the low point cost you can have these creepy crawlies sitting close behind your lines slinging support spells, magic missiles, in fact any single spell in the Aztec spell list. Include them in your force and you have, in effect extended your magic reach exponentially.

If all this isn't enough the Aztecs have one more magic slinger, the Quetzalcoatl. Yeah... A flying Behemoth magic slinger. But we will save him for another day in a write up all his own.

One more bonus tip; Power Siphon and Armor of the Gods allows the High Priest to affect as many undead units as his Magic Level. Hence; A Magic Level 3 Priest can buff up to 3 Bound Dead units within the 10" casting range. Surround him with several units of Tlalocan Bound Dead and buff them as you need to. How about a 15 to 30 strong meat shield to allow him to advance up the battlefield with armor 7...

If someone gets too close he can power them up and send them in to charge before the enemy unit gets too close.

NEXT UP: We look at the Eagle Warriors. You need support? Look no further!