Hooded+Rider

toc //Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.//
 * Hooded Rider, Neverborn Minion**

=__Overview__=

The Hooded Rider is one of the 4 Horsemen of Malifaux (well, technically one of 5 now, with the advent of Twisting Fates).

By biblical testament, the Red rider represents Strife - representing Civil and internal conflict.

Players debate the inspiration of the Horsemen, whether based on the biblical Apocalyptic stories, or perhaps Baby Yaga’s horsemen servants. The Hooded Rider is fairly reminiscent of the imagery of the Horseman War, carrying his enormous sword into battle. Strangely, the Hooded Rider even looks a bit like the character War from a recent video game about the Horsemen.

In the world of Malifaux, the Hooded Rider is a part of the indigenous population of Malifaux, the Neverborn Faction. It is a decent model which can be utilized in many ways, and does well at both offense and survivability.

=__Mobility__=

The Hooded Rider has the same Wk/Cg as the other 3 Riders, which grants it pretty good movement capability. Slightly different from the Mechanical Rider or Dead Rider though, the Hooded Rider has no ways to augment this movement. That certainly does not mean he is less useful though, as his prowess is shown in other ways instead.

//Mounted Combat// does provide some nice movement options as this generates a Push, and not just a normal move. So, this ability can allow you to move away from enemies without a disengaging strike, and can allow for some neat tricks, like getting to an opponent’s model that is hiding behind its friends.

=__Offense__=

**Melee**
This Rider’s melee attack is the Saber (which is a mystery, since the model is clearly carrying a sword, but, whatever…). This is a solid attack option, with a 6 Cb and 3/4/5 Dg flip. While the Hooded Rider has no triggers at all, he can gain additional options for his melee attacks depending upon which time of day it is, according to his //Passage of Time// ability (more on this later). So he has access to things like giving //Slow// to the defender, inflicting additional damage, or causing models hit by his Saber Strikes to be unable to target him during their next activation. This allows for some nice versatility in the Hooded Rider’s melee arsenal, but it can be rather tricky in planning to use these various effects.

As with the other Riders, this guy has //(2) Flurry// as well. He may not have any additional action modifiers that some of the other Riders get, but three attacks from the Hooded Rider, particularly while under the Noon effects from Passage of Time, can be pretty powerful.

//Mounted Combat// is the other good option for melee attacks, as mentioned above, allowing the Hooded Rider to push in and out of combat with your enemies. As he does not have access to any additional movement abilities, you will often end up locked in combat with enemies, or at least not very far away at the end of this Push. So it’s wise to utilize the various options from //Passage of Time// in these types of attacks, to keep your Hooded Rider well protected after he’s finished with the Push.

=__Resilience__= The Riders in general seem to be somewhat difficult to keep alive sometimes. As they are large, high-cost models, they typically attract a lot of attention from your opponents, and it is worth learning how to keep them alive consistently.

While he does have 9 Wds, which is comparable to many other 8 SS cost minions, he only has a 4 Df. So this rather average Df statistic means that often times the hits will get through, and even if they do only minimum damage, those 9 Wds can disappear quickly. This is especially true as many opponents will send their strongest pieces to kill a Rider due to the psychological threat they often pose.

The Hooded Rider has Regeneration 1, which can help to heal minor scrapes, but won't save him if he's targetted by multiple attacks. So special care must be taken to mitigate the damage it receives, and make the most out of the model before it is killed.

Passage of Time
Each time frame under this ability has different options for protecting the Hooded Rider, and it is one of the most tricky things to learn in order to keep him alive and use him effectively. You can gain either //Hard to Wound 1//, //Wreathed in Flames// (which does damage to other melee attackers hitting him), or //Darkness// (an immunity against ranged attacks). So you can gain either protection against melee attackers, or ranged attackers, but not at the same time. And because of how //Passage of Time// works, you may not be able to easily switch from one to the other. So it takes careful thought and planning often two to three turns ahead as to what mode you need the Hooded Rider in.

Immune to Influence
Lastly, the Riders share a common trait of having the //Immune to Influence// ability, protecting them from opposed Wp-duels when they're the defender. In addition, being a Construct, this means the Hooded Rider is immune to //Terrifying//, and so rarely has to worry about taking duels from Wp-based attacks of any sort.

=__Tips and Tricks__= //Passage of Time// is the primary ability to be concerned with on the Hooded Rider. This ability grants additional abilities to the Rider, depending on what ‘time of day’ it is. You pick one time period at the beginning of the game, and then can rotate through the abilities throughout the game. //Passage of Time// works like this: Remember that the Hooded Rider only benefits from one stage at a time. However, the Rider does have a (0) action Spell called //Chase the Sun// which allows you to change which time of day is currently affecting it. However, there is a trick to this one, as you must follow the typical progression for a day, and switch from Morning to Noon, Noon to Night, or Night to Morning. For instance, if you are currently under the Noon effect, you cannot use //Chase the Sun// to switch directly to Morning. This has to be done over the course of two activations. While this gives you some flexibility in controlling the Rider’s abilities, as noted before, it is sometimes tricky to plan far enough ahead to know which effect you will need. You only need a 4 or higher to cast the spell, so it is relatively easy to utilize, although it must be done before any other action during the Rider’s turn.
 * **Morning**: gain //Blinding Strike// (models hit by Saber Strikes receive Slow) and //Hard to Wound 1//
 * **Noon**: gain //Wreathed in Flames// and //Flaming Brand// (attacks get +1 Dg per Mask in the combat total)
 * **Night**: gain //Darkness// and //Midnight Blade// (models hit by the Hooded Rider’s attacks cannot target the Hooded Rider during their next activation)

A good rule of thumb for the Passage of Time:
 * If your opponent uses a lot of ranged attacks (like Perdita or Von Schill or Resputina), start with Night.
 * If your opponent uses a lot of melee attacks (like Lilith or McMourning), or if you're not sure, start with Noon.

Learning how to effectively use //Passage of Time// and //Chase the Sun// is the main thing you should learn for successfully using the Hooded Rider. Oftentimes, selecting the right effect at the start of the game can be a key in keeping the Rider alive.

As a specific tip, Night is exceptionally good against ranged crews, like Perdita or Rasputina, for example. It gives you solid protection to move across the table without being attacked at all. Additionally, the effect of not letting models attack you back if you hit them can completely lock down a key model for your opponent. The only trick is, you typically have to activate early in the round in order to get your attacks in, and land that effect on something important. Also, once the Hooded Rider gets into the thick of combat, the Noon effect is quite strong, due to the additional damage from //Flaming Brand//. But, in order to get from Night to Noon you have to cross through Morning at some point. So this is why it takes careful planning and a bit of strategy to use the Hooded Rider effectively.

=__Master-Specific Tips__= The Hooded Rider can be used in a crew with any of the Neverborn Masters, or it can be hired by Leveticus since the Hooded Rider is a Construct.

The Hooded Rider does not have any specific synergy with any of the Neverborn Masters. There are, however, plenty of combinations that can work, and it simply can come down to what you like to play with your various masters. As an 8 SS cost model, the Hooded Rider can fit nicely in many lists as a mid-cost beatstick of sorts. It has comparable damage output to many other models in that cost range, and good movement as well. It may not fit as thematically as some other options, but it is worth considering, and can do as well as most other similarly priced models.
 * Neverborn Masters**

At first it does not appear that there is much synergy between Leveticus and the Riders, but all you have to do is look at Leveticus, Avatar of Entropy from Twisting Fates to see why you may want to include the Hooded Rider in a Leveticus crew. With the Hooded Rider in play, Leveticus' Avatar form gets a little added defense, gaining //Wreathed in Flames//, like the Hooded Rider’s Noon mode. This is in addition to the fact that Avatar Leveticus heals Wds any time a Rider in his crew kills an enemy model. The Hooded Rider can also make a nice model to complement your Leveticus crew before you Manifest, as it can make a good model for hunting down pesky enemy models like Guild Austringers or Nino Ortega, and keep them from attacking your Hollow Waifs. Since your opponent knows you are trying to manifest, they will likely attempt to kill the Riders as quickly as possible, so be sure to protect it well until you manifest and really start to create chaos.
 * Leveticus**

=__Minion-Specific Tips__= The Hooded Rider does not have any specific synergies with any other Minions within the game, but that does not mean it cannot work well with various other crews. It works well for softening up enemy targets, or locking down models via Night mode. You can sometimes prevent an enemy model from being able to attack anything else, particularly ranged models, if the Hooded Rider hits them while in Night mode, and then stays within Melee range. Then they cannot attack the Hooded Rider, but they cannot attack other models as well, because they are locked in the Rider’s melee range.

=__Playing Against the Hooded Rider__= The trick to remember when facing the Hooded Rider is to use //Passage of Time// against the Hooded Rider player. If the Rider is in Night mode, attack with Melee units. If he is in Noon mode, attack with ranged units. Obviously, a savvy player is going to do their best to keep you from doing this, but also remember that it can take more than 1 turn for the Rider to shift modes to where they want to be. Morning mode is the weakest defensive mode. Even though it has Hard to Wound 1 at that point, it has nothing else to protect it or cause your models to take Wds in the process. So that is often the best time to hit the Hooded Rider with models with high Weak damage, like the Mature Nephilim, Steamborg Executioner, etc.

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