Today, I wish to talk to you about Rahera, and Blackfleet. In honour of Dread Armada's upcoming release, or something.
So I've been playing Rahera almost exclusively for the past couple months, and she is a blast to play. She is personally mobile and effective, and her spell list is excellent. Gang Fighter rewards good play, and makes you feel like a tactical genius when you manage to get everything lined up. Really, her feat is the worst part of her card, and that's okay. It's a feat that has some potential, but in many games is underwhelming. Rahera isn't especially survivable, especially with how aggressively forward she likes to be. One thing I do miss from Mk3 was being able to take Bosun Grogspar to keep Rahera standing (and to take advantage of his Pitch melee weapon on her feat). But really, the Sucker from the Priestess is more necessary, and she still has that.
Here's the list I've been running:
Rahera
Cryx - Blackfleet
Grand Melee - 100 pts
PC CARD
Captain Rahera, Terror of the Wailing Sea
25 Kraken
11 Reaper 1
11 Reaper 2
5 Ripjaw
9 Slayer
4 Axiara Wraithblade
1 Misery Cage
3 Satyxis Blood Priestess
3 Satyxis Raider Captain
6 Satyxis Blood Witches
3 + Satyxis Blood Hag
7 Satyxis Raiders
3 + Satyxis Raider Sea Witch
9 Scharde Ogrun Smog Belchers
PC COMMAND CARD
Bite and Hold
Blessings of the Gods
Careful Reconnaissance
Duck And Cover!
Put The Fires Out
TOTAL POINTS 100/100.
I've also run the list at 75 points without the Kraken, but the list feels better with a big piece that has some survivability. The Kraken loves Rahera. It loves Carnage, it loves Hunter's Mark, it loves Gang Fighter. She likes having something that doesn't die, and that can do some damage at range.
So first of all, this list melts. Everything smaller than a colossal dies. The games I've won, I've had close to nothing left on the table. But almost nothing is still enough to pull out a scenario victory. And the games I've lost, I usually also lose everything.
The Raiders are often the most survivable models in the army, and they're ARM 12 with single boxes. But DEF 14 is enough to be very annoying to hit, and Force Barrier does a good job keeping them alive to be delivered. But importantly, they hit accurately with Gang, and they have SPD 7 and RNG 2, so they can deliver themselves.
The Blood Witches are a tricky choice. Melee-only ambush units are a tough sell. They shouldn't ever be able to come in and attack. But, Rahera has a feat that helps get around that. In theory. In practice, it rarely works out; Rahera isn't usually on the side of the table that needs the support of another unit. Still, they come in and provide Dark Shroud and Gang Fighter benefits quite effectively. And maybe it's just my local players, but I've often been able to get some work out of them on the turn they ambush. But dear god is this unit sad about rough terrain.
Smog Belchers still coordinate extremely well with Axiara. They like having Reposition, they like having Prowl, and even Dodge is okay on them. The cloudwall actually works great with the Kraken, since the clouds protect them, and their bodies prevent charges from having lanes to reach the Kraken.
The Reapers are actually an excellent jack with the Harpoons at RNG 10 and POW 14. It's sad that it took until the Necrofactorium to figure out how to use the Harpoon in melee, but Reapers are still cheap, have 2" reach, and have two initials that are both meaningful with Gang Fighter.
The Slayer exists almost entirely for scenario. It can go forward to score. And if allowed the opportunity, it can hit very hard without any support.
Overall, I enjoy playing Blackfleet. It looks like Dread Armada will be generally stronger, and the units will be either significantly cheaper or slightly cheaper and more focused. The jack variety will be limiting, and Dread Armada is the second faction releasd in a row that actually cares about terrain (a nice change from Fane's all flying battlegroups and Umbrey's all Pathfinder all the time). Ultimately, I think Dread Armada will supplant Blackfleet for any competitive play (assuming Blackfleet has any competitive play).
And that's okay. The models still have rules and are still fun to play. If you have the models, give 'em some love. They deserve it, and so do you.