I'm back universe, for article 2 in the unit review series.
This week I'm still going to be focusing on Legion of Everblight (let me know the units/forces you want reviewed and I will see what I can do) with another unit I don't like leaving home without, Striders.
Striders are a unit I struggled with for a very long time, finally think I am at a stage where I can get the best of them on the table, and this is what I have found from using them.
The first thing you will notice about striders is their speed. They are fast, very fast (for infantry), SPD 7, Pathfinder and Advanced Deployment mean they can get across the table in record time and start to but pressure on your opponent.
The Striders have a very nice DEF of 15 and stealth, which is a great combination for a ranged unit (their ARM is 11, if they get hit, they are going to die), they do have swords for melee, but with a low MAT and POW, this will be a last resort, if these guys are in combat, they are not going to do much to your opponent (they might take a while to hit though). They will also take a dedicated unit to shift, which can be great for pulling units out of position (they do a great job at dealing with support units) and giving the rest of your force time to catch up.
The ranged attacks the striders have are nice, they have a decent RAT of 6, and RNG 12, POW 10 bows. For taking on single wound, mid ARM and mid-high DEF models, these guys do a great job, they are going to struggle against high ARM, DEF and multi-wound models, they do have combined ranged attack, but then you are going to lose out on the number of shots, they do work very well against solo's and can hunt them down without too many problems.
I think they do a good job for 6 points a unit (and the models are nice to paint, you will have to get used to regluing bow arms) and they are very useful in steamroller scenario games for disrupting your opponents movement.
The unit attachment for Striders is a nice attachment. The Officer has a higher RAT, 5 damage boxes, gives the unit Hunter, giving them a much greater ability to hit the targets that would have been safe before, and reform, I highly rate this ability, allowing the unit to make their attacks and then back away, giving your opponent a harder job trying to catch them.
The Musician is the fairly standard type warmachine and hordes forces are used to now, In Step is a nice little ability, but the chances of spreading the unit out so much that you need it are highly unlikely.
I use the striders in a fair few of my Thagrosh lists (I am looking forward to trying them out with Bethayne, giving them Corossive bows should help) and I find them a unit that is either really useful, and forces my opponent to make decisions they really don't want to make and deal with them quickly, or as 6 models that get in the way and don't do a great deal.
Well universe, thats review 2 done, I hope this has shown a few of you a unit that often seems to get over looked.
Let me know in the comments below of any units you particulary want to see reviewed and I will do my best to get them done. Now its time to start working on the next unit.
- Gormag