Warmachine: Frogs Everywhere, How Do We Stop Them?
Croak Raiders Anti-tech. Its time we talked about the frog invasion and how to deal with it.
Croak Raiders have kind of taken the Hordes list building by storm. Recently at the Crucible in Orlando , a warmachine weekend qualifier, over 80% of the hordes list had at least 1 unit of croak raiders. White’s WMW win from last year had a Vayl list with 2 units.
This unit is under-costed to say the least. They also have crazy damage output on single models with the boosted damage if you land a fire oil. Today I want to talk about some anti croak tech for warmachine.
General Anti-croak Principles:
- High defense model spam is something croaks don’t deal with easily. Things like Nyss, Kayazy, or Tempest gun mages can be reasonably safe from croaks if they can stay out of aiming range.
- Try to limit your heavies exposure. If you see 20 croaks across from you and you have a heavy you want to keep alive try to help it out. Things like cover and table placement will be key in its survivablility. Unless all 20 croaks are stacked in the middle try to send your heavy to one side of the board so you only have to deal with 1 unit of croaks trying to burn it.
- Stealth. If you have access to occultation or your models are stealthed the croaks have little recourse but to melee these models or try to walk to within 5″.
Cygnar croak killing.
On the bright side Cygnar is really good at killing 13/14 infantry. On the downside the Stormwall does not want to be anywhere near these frog dudes. Arcane shield is probably not going to keep you as safe as it usually does. Defense and long range shooting will definitely help in the croak match-ups. Blur on a heavy versus arcane shield is probably the safer bet. A Centurion is probably better with arcane shield still if you are fielding one.
As stated earlier keep the Stormwall from the majority of the croaks by using it’s movement. Only commit it if you have to for scenario play. Haley2’s spell deceleration help a lot versus croak raiders. Any jack controlled by LT. Jakes with sidekick should be relatively safe from croak shots. Gun Mages and Blazers are going to be your best option at killing these evil frog creatures. Electro leaping Blazers should be able to drop almost a whole unit if they hit.
Khador croak murdering.
Kayazy are probably one of the best units to deal with croaks in an open field. Unless the rest of the army can deal with these stealth dueling assassin’s not much the croaks can do to stop them. Iron flesh is also a great thing to have on pikemen. It might slow them down but, should keep them relatively safe vs croak shots. Most of the Khador heavies are dead vs a big unit of croaks. Try to keep them out of range or limited fields of fire. Not seen to much lately but, mortars are ok at killing mobs of croaks. Kovnik Joe buffed Riflemen can probably drop a unit of croaks before they do to much damage at range.
Menoth croak cleansing.
Errants with defenders ward are not a bad way to head the charge up vs croaks. You probably want to stay away from Bastions since they can start taking major damage when fire oil is applied. Habringer feat can limit their board placement early. Severius with a ashes to ashes can reliably clear d6+1 worth of croaks. Menoth heavies probably don’t have much to fear from croaks if the choir can be kept safe and handing out Passage. Lastly, Feora is immune so she can bathe in their spears all day.
Cryx croak soul taking.
Mobius, bile and bloat thralls unfortunately can’t hurt croaks since they are immune to corrosion. This leaves still a few options. Satyxis Raiders with the Sea Witch can probably get across the field since their shooting defense is quite high. Lich3 is a common drop vs hordes so throw ashen veil on top of that and the croaks will struggle to do much vs these horny ladies. Another unit that can cause croaks issues is Blackbane’s Ghost Raiders since most croaks will have limited access to magic weapons. Bane thralls are your old school since they do have stealth, careful though since they are slower then croaks they might have a tough time making it without help. Skarre1’s feat can definitely keep your troops alive. Nightmare with Deneghra or any of the Bone Jacks can make it with the combination of defense and stealth.
Retribution frog removal.
Ret doesn’t usually worry about other ranged infantry outside of gun mages. Strike force is the easiest answer to the frog men. Stealth and the range just makes the strike force a real issue. Stormfall archers as well as riflemen are also good anti croak tech since they can outrange them and reliably hit them. I don’t think retribution will have to many problems with croaks, it’s the rest of the horde army they have to consider.
Convergence symmetrical frog dissection.
Lucant helps a whole bunch similar to Epic Haley with the spell “Deceleration”. Everything is harder to hit and harder to hurt. Iron Mother’s list can probably out-shoot the croaks and spells like shrapnel can kill a bunch of them. Assimilators are great and cleaning up swathes of infantry and combined with firegroup should be able to get the alpha. If you can keep the Enigma foundry relatively safe from the croaks it can deliver infantry that the croaks might have killed earlier in the turn.
Mercenaries pay for frog poaching.
Mercenaries have access to so many tools it’s hard to say what is best. A highborne contract can take Gun Mages. Damiano can cast deadeye on ranged troops ensuring accurate hits from units like the Cylena + Nyss. The Earthbreaker or Galleon with snipe is devastating to all infantry , croaks not being the exception. Cephalyx have deceleration and if the Drudges make it they can put big AoE’s of pow 12s to clear the croaks. WrongEye and Snapjaw are great vs croaks because of the animus Submerge.
How have you been handling the frog invasion BoLS? Please share in your comments below.
