Anghkor Prok, Master Shaper: Background and Tactica

If you attended Gamesday 2001 in the United Kingdom, you would have received this guy just for attending.  At the time he was nothing more than just a cool looking Shaper model.  Going through the rumor mill, I see a whole lot of wishlisting for a Kroot character.  Though the tournament legality of Anghkor Prok can be debated, he is one of the greatest additions that you can include in a Kroot friendly Tau army.  You can find rules for Anghkor Prok here.




Background & Fluff
There has only  been one release of this guy's rules found in Chapter Approved around a decade ago.  As far as fluff goes he has one of the coolest back stories of any of the playable characters.  Getting his name by stubbornly standing up to a bigger Kroot in a society that is riddled with "Might is Right", he let countless attacks against the Orks and eventually swore the allegiance of the Kroot to the Tau.

Tactica
Cheap Boost
At 75 points, The Master Shaper is the second cheapest Independent Character available to the Tau Empire.  He has Ld 10 boosting the leadership value of any unit he joins.

Inspiring But Not Fighting
With the new rules allowing champions to declare challenges the Master Shaper has taken a significant hit.  There is no shame in denying a challenge with this guy as he just gets moved to the back.  Anghkor's strength doesn't lie in his stat line but the fact that he allows all kroot units within 6 inches of him to re-roll failed to-hits in close combat.  Although he has a half-decent stat line, losing him costs a lot more than just losing a Nob or a Shas'ui.  By losing the Master Shaper you drop the fighting capability of the unit and all surrounding Kroot units.

Friendly Games
Remember this unit is Kroot so if your opponent is friendly enough you may even be able to use him in Kroot Mercenaries lists.

At 19:23 in Texas on Aug 24, 2007, my first child entered the world.  Happy 5th Birthday to Daddy's little Knarloc.