Steampunk+Arachnid


 * Steampunk Arachnid, Arcanist Minion [[image:p-16714.jpg width="311" height="495" align="right"]]** toc

=__Overview__=

The Steampunk Arachnids and Arachnid Swarms are the primary minions for Ramos led crews. They are available to any Arcanist Master however, and you may also find them in some other crews from time to time (such as Leveticus). They are a relatively multi-purpose minion, and a good all-around inclusion to a crew. The only probable downside to them is that they are Insignificant when in their individual non-swarm formation.

=__Mobility__=

At first glance, a Wk of 4 does not seem that impressive for these models. A closer inspection reveals several other abilities that contribute to movement speeds which can easily catch your opponent off guard.

**Arachnid**
This is an excellent ability, and you must be sure to remember it at all times. It allows you to ignore any severe movement penalties AND not take penalties for climbing. In a sense, it is an upgraded version of Scout. Be sure to take advantage of this ability, as it can often allow you to climb along terrain and approach enemies who thought they were safe.

**Pass Through**
This one can really catch opponents off guard if used correctly, since it allows you to ignore other models while moving, both allies and enemies. It also helps that you don't have to worry quite as much about the placement of your models. You can, for instance, safely run up your Steamborg Executioner to make its attacks first, and then move the Arachnids later, allowing them to scurry over and past the Steamborg.

=__Offense__=

The Steampunk Arachnids are primarily melee pieces, and they do a fine job of it. Their basic melee attack has a respectable Cb of 4, but their damage flip is where they shine. There is no change in damage between their Weak or Moderate, which comes in handy so that you don't have to worry too much about cheating in high cards to do more than Weak damage. Honestly, you will find yourself doing Weak damage with these guys probably about 90% of the time, and you will find that this fact will not bother you.

Latch On
While more of a de-buffing ability, it bears mention here as it is really only helpful in terms of offense for your crew. This action allows your individual spiders to decrease the Df of an enemy model, making it easier for your other pieces to hit them. This works exceptionally well when you have another Swarm or the Steamborg Executioner nearby. Be careful using this ability, however, and remember that if you try to attack the enemy model with a ranged ability from one of your other models, you will be considered firing into melee still, and may end up hitting your own Arachnid. Also be aware that if your opponent moves the piece so they are no longer adjacent to your Arachnid, that the effect goes away.

Self Destruct
Quite obviously, this action is a last-ditch effort for your Arachnids, but the beauty of it, is that it is an Action and not a Spell. There is no Rst for this, and absolutely nothing your opponent can do to stop you, short of Paralyzing your model. Be careful though, as the damage from this ability will affect friendly models as well. There are some neat tricks to be had with this action as well, though. While the similar ability that the Swarm has does a little bit more damage, the individual Arachnids can actually do more overall. Each Arachnid causes 2 Dg when it blows up, so if you can manage to have 2 or 3 of them all hit the same enemy, that can stack up quickly. This also makes this action very good for taking down swarms of weak enemies. However, do recognize that this Action does the same amount of damage as a melee attack with Weak or Moderate damage, so weigh your options, and see if it would be better to go that route instead, and save your suicide maneuvers for a later time.

=__Resilience__=

In general, the individual Arachnids are fairly resilient, especially for a 3 SS model. They have a very nice 6 Df, which will help them avoid getting hit by a fair amount of enemies, however, they do only have 3 Wds, so they can be killed quickly once they start getting hit. All Arachnids are Ht 1, which is much stronger than some opponents will realize, since it means that Arachnids can often hide completely behind terrain which would only partially block other models. Be sure to use this to your advantage to either get cover or to at least give your opponent negative twists on their attacks.

**Armor**
The individual Arachnids have Armor +1 and Evasive 3, which grants Armor +3 when affected by Blast effects. This makes it tough for your opponents to take out more than one Arachnid at a time if they are running together in a tight group.

Elusive
This Df trigger which helps them escape from melee combat from time to time. Because it does not happen often, it is easy to forget...so don't!

Disruption Field
Get into the habit of activating this ability at the end of every activation with your Arachnids. The only time you do not want to use it is if you plan to do Latch On instead. Giving an opponent the negative twist on spells will mean that any short range spells will be nearly impossible to cast unless the enemy piece can use Soulstones or they Channel.

=__Tips and Tricks__=

Overall, the Arachnids are pretty straight forward, and are basic melee attack units.

Probably the most confusion comes from their Swarm Together and Scatter abilities. The most important thing to remember is that models that have not activated yet during a turn are considered to have 0 Action Points. It is only when they activate that they gain their 2 AP. So, whenever one of your Arachnids activates and then uses the (1) Swarm Together action, the new Arachnid Swarm that Replaces the other models will only get 1 general AP to spend. Also remember that the Replacing model continues the current activation, and it does so immediately. Often times, it is best to do Wk actions with one or two of your individual Arachnids, and definitely activate Disruption Field on them, and then have the last one perform the Swarm Together action, that way you get the most activations you can during the round.This is particularly helpful against crews that are designed to out-activate and then perform their tricks at the end of the round, like Pandora or Kirai.

Against models with high Df, as mentioned above, Latch On is typically a good approach. One thing that works well is to move a Swarm up to the opponent, as long as it's less than 4" total, attack twice with (+2) Melee Master, activate (0) Disruption Field, and then use the Swarm's last (1) to Scatter. Since you have to put the individual Arachnids in base contact with the Swarm, you should be able to place at least two of the new Arachnids in base contact with your target. Then, when those individual ones get to activate (thus, good to do this at the end of your turn, after your opponent has activated all their models, if possible), you start out by using (0) Latch On, and then do a general Melee Attack. Then you repeat with another Arachnid, and at this point, your target is at a -4 Df. Then your last Arachnid (which was probably not in base contact to start with) can either move in, further reduce the Df and be ready to attack next round. If you can manage to set this up where your Steamborg Executioner or another Arachnid Swarm still need to activate after all of this, then you should be able to really do some damage. This is one of the best ways to handle high Df opponents like Lilith, Perdita Ortega, or the Coryphee Duet (if you can get them to stand still, that is).

=__Master-Specific Tips__=

The Arachnids can be used with any of the Arcanist Masters, though they are obviously designed for use with Ramos. Outside of their faction, they can also be used with C. Hoffman and Leveticus.

**Ramos**
Obviously, Ramos is the primary Master that you will want to play the Arachnids with. The direct synergy here is mostly in the form of Ramos being able to summon more Arachnids into battle. Just when an opponent thinks they have finished one off, Ramos comes along and summons new Arachnids from the dropped Scrap Counters or starts healing other pieces in play. The main thing you will want to practice with him is movement and summoning during the first couple of turns, so your individual spiders do not get too far away from Ramos while he summons new ones. Remember that a newly summoned Arachnid is Slow during the turn it is summoned. However, you should be able to set things up so that the new Arachnid only has to move 4" or less in order to get into base contact with 2 other Arachnids, and then one of the other ones can perform the Swarm Together action.

**Leveticus**
While the Arachnids are eligible to be hired by Leveticus, and at no extra cost, for 3 SS it is often better to take the Steampunk Abominations in a Leveticus crew. One of the few uses here would likely be the Latch On ability, to help Leveticus hit opponents with his melee attack more easily, and thus get his Severe 12 Dg off without having to play or discard as many cards.

**C. Hoffman**
Because you would be hiring the Arachnids out of faction, they will cost you 1 extra SS. So if you intend to use the Arachnids, it is typically best to hire a Swarm directly for 10 SS, rather than the individual ones which would cost 4 each. The primary reasons for running a Swarm would be Self Repair, to help Hoffman heal more often and the (+2) Melee Master, which Hoffman can Assimilate. Also, the Arachnids are one way to get some extra activations in your Hoffman crew, without feeling like you have a bunch of weak models, since they can Swarm Together when the fight truly starts.

=__Minion-Specific Tips__=

The main thing individual Arachnids offer to the rest of your crew, is the Latch On ability. Particularly if you are facing models with high Df, this ability can help level the playing field, and help your other models hit more consistently or more easily activate their triggers. This works particularly well with, for instance, the Arachnid Swarms or the Steamborg Executioner. With the Steamborg's already impressive Cb, you can utilize Latch On to make it nigh impossible for an enemy model to resist the attack. If you play the Arachnids along with a model that has ranged abilities with blast damage, then you can do the Latch On ability, and then have your other model freely shoot at the enemy target. If you end up hitting your own Arachnid, hopefully the Armor will help it survive, but if not, you can cheat the Cb up, and the Df down, and drop some blast damage on the enemy model instead. You may end up losing a 3SS model to pull this off, but it will leave Scrap behind, which hopefully Ramos can use to summon a new one.

=__Playing Against Arachnids__=

There are several things that can be helpful with defeating the Arachnids and Swarms. One thing to remember for both is to use Focused ranged strikes or models with Paired whenever possible, since they will often have cover due to their Ht 1.

For the individual Arachnids, remember that they have a high defense of 6, and a relatively good Wp of 6 as well. With only 3 Wds though, it is typically worth cheating in whatever high cards you need to, and hit them one time for 4 or more Dg. Also, do whatever you can to eliminate the Arachnids before there are 3 of them all together, so they cannot Swarm. Taking down just one of them can severely hinder their effectiveness.

Don't bother trying to hit other units and then put blast damage on them, unless you can do it 4-5 times in a row, since they will ignore up to 4 Dg from Blasts.

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