Croak Raiders! Moar SKRON Ranged Game

Croak Raiders (spoiler posted here) are going to be a solid release for Skorne.  I'll talk about how they fit into the Skorne faction and discuss a couple of lists where they might be useful.  Pretty stock-standard introduction.

Why They Don't Suck
Croak Raiders fill a couple gaps in Skorne and provide a few opportunities.  A 10-man advanced deploy unit is unique in the faction; providing us the mobility and board presence necessary to get work done (and not lose on Incursion).  That alone makes them worth considering.  Ranged attacks, with some possibility for aiming are invaluable in Skorne and will hopefully force the engagement with typically slow Skorne armies.  Croak Raiders deliver the hard hitting shots are at a premium in the medium-based meta-game.

Anti-Skornergy
There are some really cute interactions in the faction that are worth pointing out.


1) Taskmaster. This is an obvious one, but giving Croak Raiders tough means that vitriol might actually come into play.  I'm not sure that this is worth the two points, but I think it's worth mentioning.  In lists where you can double dip on the task-master this will be a really nice synergy.

2) Krea.  I think this is the biggest one.  A Krea with Mortitheurge has a strong chance of paralyzing  a warbeast (or Warcaster/Warlock) and then the Croak Hunters can deal huge damage to it.  I think this is a real threat to Legion and is a play that will be available as soon as the bottom of 1.

3) Incindiarii.  Alchemical Accelarant really turns on Incindiarii blast damage and allows them to threaten medium based infantry.  It also allows them to threaten heavies.  Croak Raiders and Incindiarii complement each other well; together they threaten most types of infantry and some heavies.

4) Gatorman Bokur. This guy needs bodies, and the Raiders are perfectly positioned to provide corpses.  Both units want the Taskmaster and Krea, so you get to double dip on the support pieces that make these units really shine.

ADR
Is huge for these guys.  There will definitely be times when you don't want them and times when they are amazing.  Being able to swap them out with Posse or a Heavy is going to be a really strong play. They don't love fighting warmachine, particularly high-defense infantry, and being to bring in better tools will be quite nice.  Here are two lists:

pMorghoul
I've been thinking about pMorghoul ADR for a while now.  I think he is one of the better Sentinel casters, as he can protect them and make them threats in melee.  This list is tuned to fight Trolls/Menoth/Circle/Legion and has some tools to fight other lists.


pMorghoul
Aradus Sentinel
Aradus Sentinel
Aradus Soldier
Basilisk Krea
Cyclops Raider

Beast Handlers
Croak Raiders
Incindiarii (min)

Mortitheurge
Mortitheurge
Extoller
Swamp Gobbers

ADR:
Gatorman Posse
Paingiver Taskmaster
Agonizer
Extoller Soulward
Cyclops Brute

This list shoots really hard and is quite capable of closing in melee.  The Krea threats 31 inches on the bottom of 1, setting you up to steal an early Angel.  pMorg has some really nice control elements and mostly focuses on hiding behind the Aradus and not dying.

The solos can be optimized as needed.  Croak Raiders + Gobbers + Mortithuerge can be swapped for Posse against Warmachine, and Incindiarii + Gobbers can swap for Brute + Agonizer against legion.  This list has a mean assassination against any living Caster/Lock (via Morghouls feat).

I'm really looking forward to playing this and I think it will be very viable.  There's a lot of stuff that's not obvious and should be surprising to opponents.  It might even be able to play three flags! 

Rasheth ADR
I've thought less about this but I think it is worth including.  Here's a rough template.

Rasheth (Chain Gang Tier 4)
Bronzeback Titan
Titan Sentry
Titan Gladiator
Basilisk Krea
Basilisk Drake

Croak Raiders
Bokur and Shamblers
Beast Handlers
Swamp Gobbers

Paingiver Taskmaster
Agonizer
Agonizer

ADR:
Gatorman Posse
Titan Sentry (Or Bronzeback...)
Beast Handlers?

I'm still not entirely sure how to construct this one.  The idea is you get one list that has an infantry bend while having the option of removing the infantry and skewing hard armour for center scenarios/favorable matchups.  You've also got a credible range game against warbeasts with Blood Mark/Krea/Croak Raiders.  I used to bring Venator Reivers specifically for their ranged abilities and Croak Raiders fill most of that role with some additional functionality.

 The +2 SPD is a really nice benefit here.  It helps the shamblers get into position early to soak corpses.  You've also got the option of going deep turn 1, running all the way to 31" mark on top of 1 for the deep flank.  Thanks totally new to Skorne and something worth trying out.

I'm not as excitied for this but at least its a new spin on an old list.

I'm Gonna Buy These Fuckers
And I hope they are fun to paint.  I've also got some ideas for including them with eHexeris, but I've already written too much.