Grotesque Raiders

Mk4 has been announced, and we need to talk about what it means for the future of this website. Please join the discussion either on the WMU Facebook Group or the Talk:Main Page area of this wiki.

Grotesque Raiders Legion Unit

Swooping out of the darkness, the terrifying grotesques unleash misery on those who stand against Everblight. Grotesque raiders speed across the battlefield on powerful wings before descending en masse to tear apart their prey. Grotesque banshees let loose piercing cries that liquefy organs and drown out the thoughts of spellcasters, rendering their powers useless. Together these twisted creatures spread the horror of the dragon’s blight across the land.

Basic Info

Grotesque Raiders
Missing Info
	COST {{{cacost}}} UNIT SIZE {{{casize}}} FA {{{cafa}}} Warcaster 0 BASE Small SPD 7 STR 7 MAT 5 RAT N/A M.A. N/A DEF 13 ARM 13 CMD 7 ESSENCE {{{essence}}} FOCUS N/A FURY N/A THRS N/A HP 1 F. Field N/A WJP {{{wjp}}} WBP {{{wbp}}} IHP {{{ihp}}} FA 2 UNIT SIZE 6 or 10 COST 7 or 11 1.1 pts each N/A N/A Warcaster 1 COST N/A N/A Understanding the Statblock

Abilities

• Flight
• Gang - When making a melee attack targeting an enemy model in the melee range of another model in this unit, this model gains +2 to melee attack and melee damage rolls.

Weapons

Claws
		RNG				POW				P+S
		0.5				3				10

Theme Forces

• Ravens of War

Recent changes

2021. October

• +1 DEF (to 13)
• Dropped to 7/11 points (from 8/12)

Thoughts on Grotesque Raiders

Grotesque Raiders in a nutshell

Grotesque Raiders are a melee skirmish unit. Their threat range is shorter than their ranged variant, the Grotesque Banshees, but they have built-in MAT + STR fix in the form of Gang. Their role is the one of the expendable first-wave jammers, and their defensive stats reflect that. With their DEF and ARM, they won't stand up to any amount of even mediocre guns, and their lower CMD means it's easy to wipe a large swathes of Grotesques off the board with scattered AOEs, as even weaker blasts threaten their survival. They can leverage their high SPD and Flight to take advantage of intervening models and terrain, but don't expect the full unit to make it to your intended target intact.

This unit is currently available only in the Ravens of War theme force, but they can really shine there. You can also include the Grotesque Assassin as a means to deliver them.

Combos & Synergies

Non-Warlocks

• Use Raiders in conjunction with Hellmouths, some of the best board controlling pieces in the game, to mount pressure on the enemy lines.
• Grotesque Assassin - When not striking from the flanks, Raiders will almost always want at least one Assassin to back them up. He offers the unit stealth within his CMD, which helps deliver the unit to the front lines much more reliably. Blast damage is still something to think about though, as opponents can intentionally miss and scatter AOEs all over their heads.

Warlocks

• Kallus1 - Cheap units that when combined with gang and ignite can hit surprisingly above their weightclass. Also being very cost efficient for kallus1 feat, you can get lots of incubi or force your opponent to leave your units alone for a turn.
• Vayl1 can turn any model into a powerhouse with Incite, so Raiders are no different in this case. They're also superb targets for spreading Frost Field as their melee range is small (in case you're trying to leverage the DEF debuff for shooting) and their SPD is high. Flight also helps them to jam deep into the enemy lines during her feat. Instead of backing off, you can leave a few on the front line and send more into the back lines to threaten free strikes and make clearing charge lanes much more annoying for the enemy.
• Rhyas1 can do a few fun things with Raiders, although she may prefer harder hitting infantry. That said, with Dash, Raiders move inappropriately fast, and wings combined with parry allow them to get into really obnoxious locations. Combining Zuriel, Raeks, and Raiders with an Assassin plus another quality warbeast can give an army with a surprisingly great number of stealthy models.
• Fyanna2 can use Fury (the spell) to drastically improve a unit of Raiders' hitting power far beyond their point class after factoring gang. They'll be reasonably nimble during her feat as well, so their stock as a cheap, fast jamming unit may be worth considering with her. Alternatively, Iron Flesh keeps them safe from wandering blast damage to make it to melee in once piece.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Their position as a jamming, harassing unit is contested:
  • Strider Blightblades cost the same as a minimum unit, but have better command, almost the same mobility, higher DEF, Advance Deployment, Stealth, CMA and Ambush.
  • Strider Scouts can spread out even more with their UA, and can occasionally hunt down enemy counter-jammers at range.
• Die to trivial shooting, and to trivial melee counter punch. Don't expect them to last long.
• Gang and 0,5" melee range tend to work against each other, causing them to cram up in a fight.
• Its really difficult to justify them vs Grotesque Banshees for the same cost, and even more so vs Blighted Rotwings.
  • The latter can get Veteran Leader fairly easily either from Golab or the Blight Archon, may hit harder against damaged opponents and have access to reposition to clear off once they killed something, while Raiders will remain clustered if you want to use Gang.

Transport Downside

This isn't gameplay related, but the models (especially the newer sculpts) are bag space hogs due to the large wings and their posing. They will also want extra weight in their bases as they are prone to tipping on softer play surfaces. Also, good luck placing them all into 0,5" melee range without proxy bases. Advice to get around this second issue is to use cork on the bases to raise and lower the Grotesque’s to different heights so the wings don’t collide as much (at the cost of making them even worse bag hogs)

Tricks & Tips

None, really. They're a fairly simple point-and-click melee unit.

Other

Trivia

Released in Forces of Hordes: Legion of Everblight (2010)

Other Legion models

Legion Index       (Edit)
Battlegroup & Similar
Warlocks	Absylonia1 - Absylonia2 - Anamag - Bethayne1 - Bethayne2 - Fyanna2 - Kallus1 - Kallus2 - Kryssa - Lylyth1 - Lylyth2 - Lylyth3 - Lylyth4 - Rhyas1 - Saeryn1 - Saeryn2 & Rhyas2 - Thagrosh1 - Thagrosh2 - Vayl1 - Vayl2
Other Warbeast Controllers	Beast Mistress - Blight Archon - Thagrosh0
Lesser	Blight Wasps - Shredder - Harrier - Mekanoshredder - Stinger
Light	Afflictor - Naga Nightlurker - Nephilim Bloodseer - Nephilim Bolt Thrower - Nephilim Protector - Nephilim Soldier - Raek - Teraph
Heavy	Angelius - Azrael - Carnivean - Golab - Neraph - Proteus - Ravagore - Scythean - Typhon - Seraph - Zuriel
Gargantuans	Archangel - Blightbringer
Units, Solos, & Battle Engines
Units	Blackfrost Shard - B.N. Archers - B.N. Hex Hunters - B.N. Legionnaires - B.N. Raptors - B.N. Scather Crew - B.N. Swordsmen - B. Rotwings - B.O. Warmongers - B.O. Warspears - Chosen - Grotesque Banshees - Grotesque Raiders - Hellmouth - Ice Witches - Strider Blightblades - Strider Scouts - Spawning Vessel - Virtue Host
Solos	Ammok - Annyssa Ryvaal - Beast Mistress - Blight Archon - B.N Shepherd - B.N. Sorceress - B.N. Warlord - Craelix - Forsaken - Fyanna1 - Grotesque Assassin - Incubi - Spell Martyr - Strider Deathstalker - Succubus - Thagrosh0 - Virtue Champion - B.O. Warmonger War Chief - Yssylla
Battle Engines	Throne of Everblight
Theme Forces
Children of the Dragon - Oracles of Annihilation - Primal Terrors - Ravens of War
Minions
Refer to Who Works for Whom and/or Category: Legion of Everblight Minion
This index was last updated: 2021.11

Rules Clarifications

Rules Clarification:  : Flight      (Edit) (Click Expand to read)

Flight doesn't ignore: Impassable terrain. Most hazards. The exception is they do ignore Acid Bath and Burning Earth as long as they don't land in them. Templates that stay in play and do damage to models moving through them (such as a Scather). Free strikes. Trampling with a flying model (Edit) Flight allows you to trample "over" medium- and larger-bases. Although you trample "over" them, you don't get to make a trample attack vs them and you don't ignore their free strikes. Refer the core rulebook. Unless, of course, you have an exception like Blade Rush. Flight on a Cavalry model (Edit) Although flyers can move over obstacles/models, and horses can pause to do impacts while charging, flying horses cannot make impact attacks while overlapping models/obstacles. You need to pause in a legal position. Charging through models (Edit) You can't charge all the way through your charge target, with the intention to turn around and face them once you're on the other side. Because you aren't able to satisfy the "must keep the charge target in melee range" clause at the point after you are through the model but before you turn to directly face. At that point the target is behind you, not in your front arc, and thus not in your melee range. Your melee range only extends to your front arc. Refer to the latest errata. You can still "skim" through the edge of their base, if you're careful and smart with your positioning.

Rules Clarification : Gang and/or Gang Fighter and/or Tag Team and/or Team Effort     (Edit) You can gain the Gang bonus on free strikes, but generally only the first "Ganger" will get it. For example, if a target is engaged by two models with Gang, when it leaves the melee range of the first Ganger it suffers a free strike with the Gang bonus. Then it leaves the melee range of the second and suffers a normal free strike.