Mercenaries: Swamp Gobber River Raiders 101
Yay more gobbos! The only thing better then getting a new gobber solo is getting 3 gobo solos! The gobber river raiders are out and they are pirates on top of it!
The Basics
Remember that they can benefit from sea dog buffers like Lord Rockbottom.
These guys have some cool abilities. A reverse drag when they shoot models with their pistols. Instead of dragging models to them the gobbo gets placed base with the model. This can be annoying for your opponent since these models have a decent defensive value. All of a sudden a gobbo is behind 3 pikemen. They have to clear him or risk freestrikes on their models.
Don’t depend on these guys killing heavies or warcasters because they don’t hit hard. They are support models that are great in getting annoying spots.
Getting the Most from Your River Raiders
- These guys have a high enough defense to make MAT6 troops removing them them. Since they are solos you can run them in out of the way places and not worry about command. Try running them 4″ close to the flag closer to the board edge. Most warmachine players stay centralized so they might have issues getting to or removing a high defense solo.
- These guys have a strength/defense debuff on living models. This can be really useful when going for 1 handed throws on enemy warbeasts. Not only does it lower the hit roll to a spot that you might not need to boost, it also lowers the chance the enemy warbeast from preventing you from throwing them.
- Consider running or placing the river raiders behind enemy warbeasts. If they want to move away they MAT9 free strikes that will lower their strength by 2 possibly keeping your heavies alive.
- SPAM: These guys are field allowance 3. Meaning for 6 points you can have a bunch of these little gobbos running around. They are mainly a jamming unit so only consider them if you need more scenario play or just want more wackiness in your games.
Who to Bring
The river raiders are not for everybody. However they are sea dogs so things like lord rockbottom buffs, Hawk’s desire, Bog’s no knockdown can all help these guys along. If you are already bringing pirates these guys might as well come along.
Circle can get these guys shooting defense really high since they have camouflage. EMorvhanna’s fog of war or druid clouds will make these guys incredibly hard to shoot down with normal means.
Since Denny makes everyone better, Cryx can always use more models with guns. Things like Mortality or crippling grasp make even the swamp gobber pistols a credible threat.
What do you think BoLS? Have you seen the river raiders on a table near you? Please share in the comments below.
