Maelok the Dreadbound - Death, Magic, Doom!

Maelok is opposite of Calaban - really crappy looking on paper, but remarkably effective on the table. I guess this ties in well with their fluff bro-mance. He plays to Blindwater's strengths, has a decent number of tools, is remarkably resilient, has an awesome model, and poses several problems for your opponent to consider. His weaknesses are primarily the faction he is in and its lack of really powerful synergies, but he will become stronger over time as Blindwater gets more models.

Notice the pirate fishman on the left.

Overview

Stats

Solid Gatorman stats, with one less MAT and one more DEF and damage than Barnabas. He has three base P+S 12 non-reach magical melee attacks. Lowish damage but three base attacks is pretty legit.

Spells

• Death Pact - Main upkeep buff. Makes things undead and gives them +2 ARM. Synergizes well with his feat and Spiny Growth, especially when used on a heavy beast in later turns rather than on a Posse.
• Malediction - DEF and ARM debuff 2" aura. Normally not a great thing to have on a caster since you don't want your caster getting assassinated by being further up, but surprisingly it works out well on Maelok, just as it does on Terminus.
• Venom - Auto-corossion SP 8, POW 10. Nothing remarkable, but for Maelok's playstyle it works out better than one of the Arcane Bolt variants.
• Revive -  His bread and butter spell. What's more awesome than reviving a Gatorman? It can also give you a very large threat range boost - revive one Gator within 3" of its unit, add in the base, revive another Gator within 3" of that one, add its base..., and you've got a Gatorman about 9" ahead from the rest of the unit, and still within unit CMD range. Medium bases are so swell.

Abilities 

• Terror - don't forget this! Forcing CMD checks is as annoying as making multiple tough rolls.
• Undead
• Cull Souls - much better on Maelok than most Cryx casters.
• Spirit Eater on his Bite attack - makes upkeeping Malediction and charging a fully-loaded enemy heavy almost worthwhile, especially if you've softened it up a bit beforehand.

Feat

Spirit World sounds like a 70s stoner metal band. There are two parts to it:

1. Friendly Faction models currently in Maelok's control get incorporeal for one turn (pulse).
2. Friendly Undead Faction models within Maelok's control get +2 ARM for one round (aura). 

The first part of the feat is like a less potent version of the Testament's feat since you do not ignore LoS, except it affects a larger area and affects Gatormans, so one might even consider it better.
The second part is an aura that affects only Undead models. This means Maelok himself, whatever has Death Pact on it, Boneswarms, Shamblers and whatever has Zombify on it.

Thoughts

Damage

Three initial attacks is pretty neat and can cut up a lot of infantry. On top of that, you get sweet sweet Soles tokens when things die near you. The problem here is that he does not have reach, so getting more than two of these attacks off is not common, and his MAT is not very reliable. This gets solved in two ways - Elasticy from the Swamp Horror gives him reach, and Malediction makes him MAT 8! So not bad at killing infantry for souls at minimal personal investment.

Malediction also brings him to P+S 14, meaning he can take out some of the lighter armored heavy targets, and steal a beast's fury Hexeris-style. Not bad. Against the heavier armored targets, it gives a pretty good chance for your heavier hitters to finish the job rather than flat flat by a column or two and then die.

Survivability

This guy is a tank. Maybe not as tanky as Barnabas, but tanky nevertheless. Under Spiny Growth and his feat, he is ARM 21, which is definately not shabby when paired with a respectable DEF and transfers. You can even put Death Pact on him to bump him up another 2 ARM if you're afraid of losing him that turn.

In any case, he doesn't die too easily as long as you play smart and don't allow him to get charged by weapon masters or heavies.

He looks like he can take a hit or two. Or thirty-two.

Utility

He has a few subtle ways to help his army or deal with certain problems. Malediction is one tool, bringing a valuable ARM and DEF debuff to the table. Venom is also useful at clearing jammed up light infantry, and Death Pact is a very solid ARM buff to protect against ranged attacks during the early game. It can also screw a remarkable number of enemy abilities on account of granting undeath. I find it is best used on a Posse early on if your opponent has lots of lowish POW ranged attacks, or better on a beast if he has a few high POW ones. Later game, it becomes a situational tactical decision.

His most powerful form of utility is the control and threat brought by Revive and his feat. Revive allows you to place Gatormans where they really should not be, and the feat allows you to charge through tough front lines to more desirable targets (like support pieces or warcasters), or just jam up like a madman. This latter strategy works pretty well with the ARM buff part of his feat, allowing you to place ARM 22 Gatormans almost anywhere you want.

Playstyle & Tactica

Maelok is an attrition grinder. He is so grindy he makes Napalm Death look like Manowar, he makes sandpaper cry 'uncle' and he crushes coffee beans with his bare hands/claw stumps. The primary strategy of a Maelok list is to put Death Pact on a Posse, run them up the table with your beasts closely behind, then grind away, bringing back Gators as needed to kill important targets outside the mosh pit and put you up in the attrition war. You can then shuffle Death Pact around, be liberal with Spiny Growths, get to where you want using the feat and get some sneaky attacks in between bases with Elasticity. Like most Blindwater armies, there isn't all deep strategy involved but it is very tactical.

Spirit World should be used offensively and never defensively. I often use it for a Revive assassination (just make sure to Revive before you feat), or to take out important support models (Tartarus et al, Sentinels UA, etc.), or to just be annoying and go places I shouldn't be. Just watch out for those magical weapons though, they can ruin your day. You should still plan ahead for the defensive part of the feat by having Death Pact on something, and Zombify on a unit. The defensive part of it is good, but popping it purely defensively is basically throwing the feat away.

I usually try to play Maelok himself a little further back with Spiny Growth on him and a fury or two at all times, but close enough so that he can get stuck in if there is a good opportunity to get a lot of soul tokens or help kill heavy targets. Getting soul tokens is a huge deal with Maelok as it allows him to revive another Gatorman or pump out even more melee attacks. Having lots of tough medium bases around him helps keep him alive, as do his stats and spells.
If there is a highly viable assassination threat from my opponent (for example, many big guns and eEyriss, or multiple MHAs), I will keep him quite far back and use him as a Revive/feat bot until the threat is neutralized. If the risk of assassination is tolerable, I will try to get him involved in the grind to generate soul tokens and lots of attacks.

I will also usually cast Malediction first turn if I see that there will be a use for it at any point in the game (which there usually is). I've tried playing him really safe and not even consider using Malediction or moving up at all, but more often than not I will regret this later in the game. He can make a big difference in attrition with his spells and attacks.

• Gatorman Posse are essential. You want a minimum of two max units at any points size, and should consider a third at 50pts and above. These are the primary target for Revive - their sizable damage output, ability to reroll attacks against living models and long threat range gives Maelok a very potent eLich-like assassination angle that cannot be ignored at any stage of the game.
• Swamp Horror is resistant to ranged attacks, has many melee attacks, can push things around and can give Maelok (or other Gator beasts) reach! Pretty solid beast for a grind game. Try to keep Spiny Growth on it whenever possible though, as its base ARM is pretty pathetic for a heavy.
• Blackhide Wrastler brings even more trickery in the form of the two-handed throw along with some decent hitting power. You have to beware of the Skornergy with the feat however - if you feat with Maelok and then activate the Wrastler to two-handed throw a friendly target, you will not be able to do anything since your friendly target is also incorporeal and unaffected by your puny power attacks. The feat is still good for throwing enemy models through your own guys though.
  The Wrastler is also a great tank under Maelok - with Spiny Growth, Death Pact and the feat, he becomes an awesome ARM 25. Good luck removing that.
• Bull Snapper brings Spiny Growth and a really long charge. 3 pts? Yes please.
• Witch Doctor has obvious synergies with Maelok with Zombify turning a unit Undead so they can benefit from the second part of his feat. Remember that he also has Sacrificial Strike to clear lanes but also removes the sacrificial lamb from the game so they cannot be Revived later.
• Totem Hunter is a real beast under the feat and provides another assassination angle. He is also awesome at killing crutch solos that hide in the enemy ranks like Gorman, Kovnik Joe or Tartarus.
• Boneswarms are not really good. Maybe in the tier list, but I'll be damned if I'm buying three of those. You'd think the animus would be good in a grind situation, but it usually isn't with all those medium bases involved.
• Thrullgs aren't too bad however. With all those jamming Gators, they are somewhat screened from getting sniped out, and the disruption/anti-magic abilities they bring to the table can be pretty useful.

Conclusion

Grind Factor:
K-Pop |----------------------------------------------------------X------| Nasum

Maelok is a surprisingly legit caster and quite fun to play. He plays to the faction's strengths, has a great model and great background, and loves to rub your opponent's face into the dirt - sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly.