Bloodhorn Champion

  The Bloodhorn Champions are infamous throughout the Golden Empire for their smithing talents. Especially among the Casteviedo III Revenant Legion that has to fend against them on disputed territory.   Minotaur hide is thick enough without armour, so when they are clad with a full chainmail and a steel harness above, it becomes a nightmare for conventional weapons to pierce through.   Their horror is amplified through dyeing their metal with a red paint boiled from blood. They further decorate the armour pieces by chaining human bones to their wrists, hanging skulls from their belts, displaying head trophies from back-spikes resembling spines, and tying pieces of broken banners around their steel clad horns.    

Strengths

• Juggernauts: Bloodhorn Champions have near infinite morale and rather die for honour than live and see themselves as a coward. They are also exceptionally hard to kill with the heavy armour.
• Anti-infantry: Most base units are slaughtered by the sheer size and strength of the minotaurs. Their weapons shatter shields and a blow of full force from an axe or hammer could instantly take out a knight if it hits their helmet.
• Anti-monsters: The Champions are skilled fighters that are used to hunting dangerous prey. Even massive warbeasts are likely to be halted by the Bloodhorn’s shields, surrounded by their numbers, and then hacked to pieces by their axes.
• Swift: The Bloodhorn minotaurs charge at the same speed that most heavy cavalry do. This allows them to breach through shields and spearwalls with pure grit, while also making retreats harsh.

 

Weaknesses

• Magic: The heavy plate of the Champions make them prime targets for spellcasters. Pyromancy can easily burn them within like meat trapped in tin cans, while curses and metallurgy may turn their armour into stiff prisons.
• Weight: The combination of heavy armour, the musclemass of a minotaur, and that of their hooves can make pathfinding nightmarish. Clever use of muddy terrain has allowed significantly weaker Revenant Legionaries to wipe out whole units of Bloodhorn Champions without taking a single casualty.
• Tail: The tail of a minotaur is often considered its prime weak-spot. Cutting it off directly affects the spine and balance of the creature, stunning it within the moment, whereas they are known to shrug off bullets to the head. They are more likely to die stumbling and bleeding out from a severed tail, than to fragments in their skull.

 

Special Abilities

• Diabolical Howl: The hellish forces worshipped by the Bloodherd allows them to unleash a terrifying cry. One magically warped to match the perfect frequency to induce panic into mortals.
• Earthen Cascade: Though fully physical, the combined weight of an entire Bloodhorn Champion unit of twentyfour can cause the ground to tremble if they stomp in unison. This is especially effective if they find themselves surrounded, to discombobulate the enemy.