Cyclops Savage: Thoughts/Tips

The Cyclops Savage is the light beast given in the Skorne battle box. He is fairly average in almost all respects, but with an animus that alone makes him a valuable support piece that can fit into any army.

Stats:
The stats, overall, are fairly unremarkable. Decent MAT and SPD, DEF and ARM seem pretty good for a light, but overall nothing all that really stands out as exceptional. 3/8 Fury/Threshold is pretty normal, from what I see out of light warbeasts.

Attacks:
Only one attack, with a P+S 13 Falchion. It does have reach, and it's strong enough to do damage to almost anything out there, but not much. Handy against infantry and lights though.

Animus:
The key strength of the Cyclops Savage is his Animus, Prescience. It grants Future Sight, which lets the model choose to boost attack and damage rolls AFTER rolling. That's a very useful ability to keep your fury usage efficient. This is especially useful for beasts with shooting attacks, who may need a 7-8 to hit, and you want to use as little fury as possible. Roll, and if you miss by a little, boost after the roll. It can also be handy with damage- if you roll a 1 and a 2 with your initial damage roll, you're not likely to waste a fury point for a damage boost, especially if you're looking at high ARM targets. I find it less useful on close combat oriented beasts (if they haven't charged) because oftentimes you'll just prefer to spend the fury on another attack.

Overall, it's just such a handy tool that you will find plenty of times for it to come in handy. Also, it only costs a single fury to use, making it extremely easy to throw around.

Special Rules:
Future Sight: He has the same rules that his animus grants, and it's the same level of useful with him as it is on someone else.

Synergies:
Master Tormentor Morghoul: Abuse is alright for giving the Savage a good 13" threat range and lets him hit harder, but there are probably going to be better targets for the spell. Prescience doesn't really provide too much help to Morghoul, since you're likely better off spending fury for the two extra attacks, instead of either boosting to hit or boosting damage. The Savage's usefulness with Morghoul really depends more on what else is in the army.

Titan Gladiator: Prescience is very helpful on the Gladiator, who can use it to save fury on those slam power attacks. Generally, to kill big things, you'll want to slam it, Follow Up, then proceed to pound on the knocked down target. This revolves on that first attack hitting, but wanting to spend as little fury doing so as possible (so you can buy more attacks). Prescience definitely comes in handy there. Rush is okay on the Cyclops, but generally you'll have better things to do with it.

Paingiver Beast Handlers: I find the most useful beast manipulation for the Cyclops is Medicate. Extra strength is nice, but P+S 15 isn't terribly scary. Healing these guys is always nice though, since they are handy to keep around.

Tier Thoughts:
The Cyclops Savage can be taken in all of the theme forces but Dominar Rasheth's and Tyrant Xerxis'. Whether they make a good choice for the army is dependent more on what ELSE you take. They are very helpful with some choices, and fairly pointless with others.

Thoughts:
The Cyclops is a good, reliable, cheap beast. It's pretty inexpensive at 5 points, and can provide a lot of support to the beasts in your army, or even your warlock from time to time. It's a great fit for armies with ranged attacks on their beasts, and even some of the melee beasts will enjoy having the Cyclops Savage around.