Bane Riders

Bane Riders are chosen from among the most vicious and spiteful of bane spirits, their minds intact enough to be given positions of prominence among the armies of the Dragonfather. Astride their undead mounts, these malicious thralls can become wraith-like to move through trees and buildings until the moment they strike with their bane blades to cut down enemies their leader has marked with unholy curses.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Undead
• Template:Cavalry
• Template:Ghostly
• Template:Reposition 3
• Template:Vengeance

Weapons

Bane Blade
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S
		2				6				13
Template:Brutal Charge
Mount
File:Mount icon.jpg		RNG						POW
		0.5						12

Theme Forces

• Cryx
  • Template:Dark Host. Bane Riders gain Prowl in this theme.

• Other Factions
  • Infernal players can use this model/unit in the Template:Hearts of Darkness theme, but only if Mortenebra is leading the army.

Thoughts on Bane Riders

Bane Riders in a nutshell

Since the "Bane errata", the Bane Riders can again do what they were intended to : resist small shooting on the approach, impact infantry and threaten heaviest targets by piling up. Why?

• They resist low POW shooting fairly well thanks to ARM18, which is one of the highest value in the game for heavy cavalry.
• This synergies very well with their new Vengeance ability, as doing some random shots on them and hoping to spike can backfire heavily by triggering Vengeance, which increases their volume of attacks and threat range.
• Their new 2" reach has given them back the ability to pile multiple charges on the same target (like a heavy warbeast or warjack). Double-boosted MAT7 POW15 strikes are a threat to almost anything in the game, especially in a faction that can pile up debuffs on juicy targets. Even if they don't kill their target, they can split up safely afterwards with the combination of Reposition and Ghostly.

Combos & Synergies

Non-casters

• The Wraith Engine has heavy synergy with Bane Riders : it buffs their ARM to 20 against shooting and magic, making them almost immune to unboosted ranged attacks, and Dark Shroud will allow them to hunt heavies.
• Desecrators gain a focus in their proximity. You can reposition your Riders into or behind its Scather safely to prevent them to get charged by single wound infantry.
• Bane Lord Tartarus's Veteran Leader ability can buff their MAT even higher.
• Darragh Wrathe can make them threaten 13" with Death Ride (16" if Vengeance is triggered), or go to pseudo-ARM20 against anything living in his CMD range.

Casters

• Goreshade2 hands out stealth, and they are high value targets for his feat.
• Goreshade3 can bring them back with Mockery of Life or give them Occultation or Scything Touch. Park half of the unit behind a forest and send the other half into combat to kill and be killed. On your next turn, Vengeance the remaining Riders through the forest and replace the fallen with Mokery, placing them behind the forest, Rinse and repeat every turn for as long as you can.
• Skarre1 and Bane Riders are made to work together. They threaten at least 12", which makes great use of her feat : with 3 dices to hit they can reliably take down many infantry models with Impact hits, she raises their charge attacks to absurd P+S levels, and afterwards they camp at least ARM23 against any strike.
• Goreshade2, Coven and Deneghra2 have Curse of Shadows which allows cavalry to impact attack a unit affected by Curse of Shadows, and if they fail to hit carry on with the charge unimpeded.

Downsides & Drawbacks

• With only average boxes and slightly higher than average ARM, these guys are prime targets for CRA's. Boosted damage moderately high POW shooting can take one out in one shot.
• They also don't have a lot of ability to stay entrenched in the slugfest so Repositons are key, along with follow ups.

Tricks & Tips

• You can use your Vengeance and Ghostly to go back 3" to get new charges or impact attacks, if needed.
• Reposition and Ghostly allow your Riders to pile multiple charges on the same target, like a heavy, and still spread out afterwards.
• Vengeance can allow you to move out-of-formation grunts back in formation freely.

Other

Trivia

• Released in the Warmachine: Vengeance expansion. (2014)