Infantry may not be the stars of Warmachine, but that doesn’t make them any less important. From screening high priority targets to overwhelming a foe with sheer numbers, infantry plays a critical role, especially in the armies of Cryx. Today, I’m taking a look at the Satyxis Raiders.
IN SHORT: Fast and deadly, Satyxis Raiders will eviscerate enemies hiding behind their shields and fry a warcaster’s brain right through their warjack!
STRENGTHS: Raiders are fast! Smoking fast! With SPD 7 and Advanced Deploy, they can easily be the first line of Cryx infantry to crash into the enemy’s ranks. Reach on their Lacerators gives them a total threat range of 12”, which goes up to 14” with Raider Captain support! Damn!
Raiders are well armed, too. In addition to Reach, their Lacerators come with Chain Weapon, Critical Knockdown, and Feedback. Chain Weapon allows them to ignore Bucklers, Shields, and Shield Wall. Critical Knockdown is a nice bonus if you get lucky, but Feedback is where it’s at.
With Feedback, every time a Raider damages a warjack, its controller suffers 1 point of damage. This is a great tactic for softening up a warcaster for an assassination run or deal the final blow.
Last, but not least, Raiders have Combined Melee for added hitting power and accuracy when they need it. Given that each Raider comes with two attacks, one from the Lacerator and a basic P+S 8 hit from their horns, Raiders can sacrifice non-Lacerator attacks to power-up other Raiders’ Lacerators.
WEAKNESSES: With DEF 14 and ARM 12, Raiders do not take hits well. They have a good chance of hitting first and hitting hard, but that counterattack is going to eat them alive. Add to that their living CMD 8 models, and these girls can break at the worst possible moment.
While fast, Raiders do not have Pathfinder, but their attachment, the Raider Sea Witch, can fix this. In fact, a lot of issues with the Raiders are solved by taking a Raider Sea Witch.
Also, while the Lacerator has great special rules, its hitting power is a mild P+S 9. In order to threaten many warjack targets, Raiders need to use their Combined Melee, get the charge, and/or use Power Swell from their attachment, the Raider Sea Witch.
And speaking of warjacks, Raiders love cutting into warcasters one hit box at a time. Against Hordes armies, the Feedback on their Lacerators is completely useless.
SYNERGIES: Raider. Sea. Witch.
Seriously, this is one awesome unit attachment. For 2 points, the unit gets Pathfinder, Force Barrier (+2 DEF against ranged attack rolls and blast damage immunity), and Power Swell (once per game, get an additional die on melee damage rolls during that activation). For 2 points! Take her. Seriously, just take her. Even the model looks cool.
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The Raider Captain is another option worth considering. Her main synergy is Desperate Pace [Satyxis Raiders]. The Captain targets a Satyxis Raider unit in command range, and that unit gets +2” movement during its activation that turn! Raiders are fast, and the Raider Captain makes them even faster!
Against a Warmachine opponent, Skarre loves taking a group of Satyxis Raiders to double-up the Feedback damage with her spell, Backlash. This can make each damaging hit against a warjack do 2 points instead of 1. With this, even the mightiest warcaster can fall in a hurry!
Lich Lord Asphyxious can use a similar tactic by sending Raiders in to bang up some warjacks. Then, after your opponent has slaughter them, call them back for Feedback seconds!
Asphyxious the Hellbringer also has a neat combo. Raiders with a Sea Witch are DEF 16 against ranged attacks. Add in Ashen Veil, and they’re DEF 18. Now we’re talking!
JUST FOR FUN: Sometimes, just running the Raiders forward can be enough to really mess with an opponent’s plans, engaging their shooters and giving the meat of your army time to close.
So how far into the map can Raiders get right out of the gate?
That’s 6” for Advanced Deploy, 14” from the run, 2” from Reach, and an extra 2” from Desperate Pace. All totaled, that’s 24”! Did I mention Raiders are fast?
SUMMARY: Satyxis Raiders are fast, deadly, and versatile. They’re solid against Hordes and incredible against Warmachine. Raiders are an excellent addition to many Cryx forces. Even better, many of their weaknesses are taken care of with the simple addition of a Raider Sea Witch.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
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