Northkin Raiders

Dedicated raiding bands are vital for smaller kriels that rely on their spoils to survive. These skirmishers use ambushes and hit-and-run tactics. Raiders carry firebombs used to set buildings ablaze to distract sentries and lure them from storehouses, bombs equally effective against massed infantry. It is also their job to plunder downed foes after a skirmish, a task veteran warriors consider beneath them.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Advance Deployment
• Template:Gunfighter
• Template:Immunity Cold
• Template:Pathfinder
• Template:Tough
• Template:Quick Work

Weapons

• Fire Bomb - 8" range, 3" AOE, POW 12 gun
  • Template:Critical Continuous Fire
  • Template:Fire damage
  • Template:Safe-Handling
• Sword - 1" reach, P+S 11 melee weapon

Weapon Attachment

As with most Trollkin units, the Northkin Raiders can take up to 3 Trollkin Sorcerers. The Sorcerer's info has been omitted for brevity.

The Trollkin Sorcerer would be affected by safe handling from the bombs due to their wording.

Theme Forces

• Template:Kriel Company
• Template:Storm of the North

Thoughts on Northkin Raiders

Northkin Raiders in a nutshell

The general rabble of the North Kin, they possess both speed and versatility as key attributes. At first glance they appear to be the weakest of comparable Trollblood ranged units (the others being Trollkin Highwaymen, Scattergunners, and arguably Trollkin Sluggers and Pyg Bushwhackers). However, the Raiders are not a pure ranged unit. They are a combined arms skirmish unit, and a reliable crumple zone. With careful tactics and support, they can outperform other Trollblood units available in the same themes. Their peculiar abilities enable them to form a front line deeper into enemy territory than most other Trollblood infantry.

Because of the higher power, AOE and safe handling they should only really use their swords when charging or when they are forced to. Quick work is great but it's a gamble every time.

Combos & Synergies

• The Northkin Krielstone attachment speeds these guys up - or makes them hit harder in melee. Both great.
• Any MAT buffers (normally the Fell Caller Hero); MAT 6 is going to struggle to get through a lot of skirmish screens unassisted but MAT 8 is effective.
• Croak Raiders can oil things up to boost damage.
• Pyg Lookouts can make them good at shooting - one sacrificial lookout can give them either a turn of skirmish potshots or a turn of really going deep if the Pyg is run as far as it can.
• Any warlock with an effective DEF buff (notably Madrak Ironhide, Thornwood Chieftain, Borka Kegslayer & Keg Carrier, and Calandra Truthsayer, Oracle of the Glimmerwood although Jarl Skuld can do seriously obnoxious things with their ranged defence and threat range via Quicken)
• Any warlock that helps them hit (notably Madrak, Great Chieftain with both Fortune and Spellpiercer, and Grim Angus)
• Gunnbjorn2 safe handling and gunfighter work great with his feat. He tends to run a ranged game so having a semi cheap screening unit with guns tieing enemies in melee isn't awful in his late game.
• Horgle The Anvil - No-knock down tough makes them an annoying tarpit unit. With a bit of luck they can spead some fire for his feat, but there are way more reliable ways to do that.
• Madrak3 - Battle Lust lets them roll 5 dice on charge damage rolls and a tarpit unit on his feat turn can be a real headache for your opponent, especially if you manage to use the movement to engage and threaten free strikes, which hurt thanks to Weapon Master. Defender's War pushes them to DEF 15/ARM 16 before Kriel Stone or Caber Thrower buffs, which is respectable.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Trying to fit 10 medium bases into a 7" CMD bubble is a herculean task, you are probably better of with min units just due to this fact.
• RAT 5, RNG 8, and POW 12 means that if you try to use them as a strictly ranged unit rather than for combined arms means that they will miss the infantry and fail to hurt the heavies. Point blank AoEs do need to go somewhere though so this isn't really that bad.
• Mediocre stats all round, you are paying for conscript infantry who are cheap, have a ranged attack and a host of ok special rules, so you can't really complain.

Tricks & Tips

• Charging into enemies and killing them lets you burn up the enemy support from up to 17" away from your starting position. Too bad about that Choir of Menoth or those Paingiver Beast Handlers - both of which die to blast damage. This is why these guys should be thought of as a combined arms unit or even a melee unit that can shoot.
• Watch for anything ARM 12 or less. Blast damage scares them.
• As a unit that doesn't cost that much and has both Advance Deployment and Tough they make for a good "crumple zone" of skirmishers against enemies running bricks - if enemies are charging these guys they aren't charging more valuable models.

Other

Trivia

File:NK Raider alt.jpg

Barrel Pyg Rider, limited edition sculpt

• Released in the Northkin expansion (2017.07)
• This model has a limited edition sculpt