Skorne: Building Rasheth’s Chain Gang
Continuing my tactica series for Skorne’s chubby slave driver, today I’m going to discuss some lists built using his theme force, Chain Gang.
Chain Gang is up there with Fist of Halaak and Immortal Host in terms of most commonly used theme forces in Skorne, and for good reason. Standout benefits include cheaper titans, increased FA on Agonizers, Agonizers starting the game with three Fury, faster Minion units first turn, and increased deployment zone. There are a few nice models you miss out on that synergize well with Fatty, like Feralgeists, but for the most part you have just about everything Rasheth really wants to bring along.
Here is the version of Chain Gang I normally use:
Rasheth +5
Basilisk Krea 4
Titan Gladiator 7
Titan Sentry 8
Bronzeback Titan 9
Full Beast Handlers 3
Full Gatormen 9
Full Nihilators 8
Swamp Gobbers 1
Task Master 2
2 Agonizers 4
Using the List
I’ve tried many variations on this core list, like dropping the Nihilators for a second Gladiator or Cannoneer, or even three Agonizers, but this is the one I’ve had the most success with. You have three heavies, a Krea and Swamp Gobbers to protect Fatty, Nihilators to jam/screen your heavies and take out massed infantry, and Gatormen as multipurpose murder machines. I normally run the Nihilators up front with Carnivore on them as my first wave, followed very closely by the Sentry with Agonizers right behind him. The Sentry is ridiculously hard to remove against (most) melee-focused Hordes armies on feat turn due to the Agonizers; living warbeasts are getting effectively -4 to their melee damage rolls.
The Gatormen and Task Master are usually off on a flank trying to clear or hold objectives and just generally murdering light-to-medium infantry and light warbeasts/jacks. Nihilators are my typical Carnivore target because Gators have less of an issue hitting living models since they can reroll misses. Plus, the Nihilators having effective MAT 9 plus Berserk can result in a lot of dead living infantry. Nihilators are also a nice target for Dark Rituals in a pinch because they have Tough, allowing them to potentially survive that d3 damage. They also come in greater numbers, so sacrificing one to get off a Breath of Corruption or Blood Mark isn’t a big deal.
Another list I’ve been theorycrafting drops the Nihilators for the upcoming Croak Raiders:
Rasheth +5
Krea 4
Gladiator 7
Sentry 8
Bronzeback 9
Min Beast Handlers 2
Full Gatormen 9
Full Croak Raiders 8
2 Task Masters 4
2 Agonizers 4
On Croak Raiders
I suspect that the Croak Raiders will have a pretty big impact on some Skorne lists when they come out next month. They are a relatively cheap Minion AD ranged unit in a faction that plays well with Minions and has traditionally had pretty meh ranged options, until the last few books at any rate. Their oil bombs are also great when paired with the Incindiarii.
In Chain Gang they are a solid ranged unit that can start hitting targets and holding objectives frighteningly early. Assuming you go second, the Raiders start 18 inches forward. With the tier 2 benefit they gain +2 SPD on your first turn. This lets them advance 8 inches while still being able to throw their flaming darts a further 10 inches, or just run 16 inches to jam and disrupt your opponent’s movement. With Gang and the Task Master’s +2 STR bonus they can also hold their own in melee to a degree, even if their real purpose is setting stuff on fire from afar. I think they have a ton of potential in Chain Gang, and I’ll be picking some up as soon as I can for both my Skorne and Blindwater.
Next time, I’ll throw around some ideas for Rasheth outside of Chain Gang.
What’s your favorite Rasheth list?
