Cataphract Arcuarii

Cataphract arcuarii are imposing warriors encased in extremely thick and finely lacquered armor. Arcuarii wield great hooked harpoons called arcus that can be brought to bear in close quarters or fired across the battlefield to impale enemies and drag them close. Once enemies are dragged in, the arcuarii use their barbed blades to put the foes to a brutally efficient end.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Tough

Weapons

• Harpoon - 8" range, POW 12 ranged attack
  • Template:Weapon Master
  • Template:Drag

• Arcus - 2" reach, P+S 12 melee attack
  • Template:Weapon Master

Theme Forces

• Template:Masters of War. They gain "Optional Take Down" in this theme.

Thoughts on Cataphract Arcuarii

Cataphract Arcuarii in a nutshell

Arcuarii are Skorne's only Ranged Weapon Master unit; and together with the Cataphract Cetrati one of the few melee weapon masters to boot. Unfortunately, they are very expensive per model and can be taken out by any charges or two hits from small arms fire. They have fantastic offensive output and will really bully small and medium based models with drag quite easily. But with they low defence, mediocre armour and lacklustre range they need to be played with the right caster to actually get work done. Otherwise they will just die.

Combos & Synergies

• Tyrant Commander & Standard Bearer - Press Forward is extra threat range.
• Dominar Morghoul & Escorts - Occultation provides them much needed protection from enemy guns and magic. Morg3's blind also allows them to pick off targets with impunity
• Archdomina Makeda - Field marshal shield guard protects them on the approach. They benefit from her feat greatly allowing them to deliver accurate weaponmaster retaliatory strikes against foes
• Primus Jalaam - Stealth, Pathfinder, and deadeye. Jalaam likes all ranged units, but this one benefits the most, perhaps.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Drag sounds good until you consider stealth, Shield Guard, Sacrificial Pawn, stuff that can’t be moved, walls/terrain/other models ... it’s a long list.
• Can't drag large or huge bases
• The Venator Flayer Cannon Crew performs better at shooting large and huge bases and has a longer threat range. But has no melee game at all.
• Back banners are a minor nightmare (especially on the old metal ones).
• Don't be fooled by the ARM 16, multi-wound statline into thinking they are actually hard to kill. Their stats will last you about two unboosted POW 12 shots (before you need Tough) or a single boosted one. What they are protected from is anti-light infantry tech that's mostly POW 10 (whether gun mages, electroleaps, or high explosive rounds) and corrosion style effects that do a single point of damage.

Tricks & Tips

• Remember that you do more damage with a charge than a normal ranged attack (since charges are boosted) and the Arcuarii have a higher MAT than RAT. Irritatingly, this means that with a threat range of 13" the Arcuarii are often better off charging anyone within 10", so there's only a 3" window of walking and shooting.
• Look for medium based enemies to pull and mangle.
• If you have control over positioning, you can pull the enemy light jacks into backstrikes. This can be an interesting way to get around shields.
• Try to use them as a second wave unit. Their defensive stats are so poor they can't survive the frontline in any capacity - but they are weapon masters with reach weapons

Other

Trivia

• Cataphract Arcuarii means "armored archers". Cataphract comes the Greek word Cataphractus, which means "fully enclosed." Arcuarii is plural Arcuarius, meaning archer.
• Released way back in Primal Mk1 (2006)