Silurid


 * Silurid, Neverborn Minion** toc

=__Overview__=

Silurid are Hit-and-Run minions. They have excellent mobility/evasion tricks and some decent melee abilities, but will not last long if your opponent manages to start hitting them. Their mobility makes them phenomenal at acheiving objectives that don't involve killing models, and they're worth taking for that reason alone.

The combination of Pack and Unstable Evolution practically requires you to take Silurid in groups of two or (most commonly) three. That means that despite their 5SS cost, taking Silurid in your crew is likely to be a 15SS investment.

=__Mobility__=

Silurid are fast, and they're slippery. Just using Leap and a charge lets them come out from behind some terrain and charge a model 20" away. With survival instinct they can slip out of combat with a 6" push or even Leap and Survival instinct past another enemy model to extend their charge range by 9+6". If your target is within 11", you could even (2) charge for some damage, then (0) survival instinct and (0) leap to get back into safety before your opponent has a chance to hit back.

Amphibious can also be great for getting an added movement boost, but I find that it's rarely needed with their already ludicrous speed.

One thing to bare in mind is that Leap will require a 7 or more to cast. You're more likely than not to cast it on the starting flip but if you're leaping three Silurids, with a bit of bad luck you may need to drain your hand just to get the Leaps cast. For that reason you want to keep your hand stocked with cards of a 7 or higher, and try to avoid a situation where you won't be able to cheat a particularly critical leap.

=__Offense__=

The extra attacks from Bloodlust can allow a Silurid to do quite alot of damage against living or undead models, although unsurprisingly they're less effective against armoured models and constructs.

Pack effectively lets you use multiple Silurid as a single entity, which is great for when you want to alpha-strike a single model and/or escape before your opponent can react.

One type of model that Silurid are not great against are those requiring a Wp duel to hit them. This most often includes Terrifying, Harmless or Pitiful models, but also Pandora, Lilitu and a few others. Their low Wp stat means that you'll often need to cheat just to pass the Wp test and combined with leap and the possible need to cheat your attack flip, you're going to drain your hand at best, or watch your Silurid die or run away //en masse// at worst. As such, you generally want to avoid targetting such models with your Silurid, unless you can tip the odds in your favour with abilities like a Bewitch from Zoraida or a Howl from Marcus.

=__Resiliance__=

The main disadvantage of Silurid is that they're fragile, with a relatively low Wd stat and a pitiful Wp. So if your opponent can start hitting them consistently, they're going to get themselves killed. Their hit and run abilities can help alot with that, so be sure to take maximum advantage of survival instinct and Leap for that reason. You should also take advantage of any cover or their Camoflage ability to keep them safe from ranged attacks. Basically, the best defense for a silurid is to never get hit in the first place!

=__Tips and Tricks__=

Strategies and Schemes
Silurid are incredible at most strategies and schemes that don't require you to kill any models. Leap and survival instinct can help them get into position to (1) or (2) interact with an objective, and they're fast enough to claim any objective-based schemes at the end of the game. This alone is why Silurid can be game-winning, even against crews they can't really do much damage to.

Unstable Evolution
It's already been said above, but Unstable Evolution is something you need to be wary of. Unless the board has alot of water terrain, you'll probably need to take two or three Silurid to avoid them taking wounds every turn if you're planning to use any at all. That said, even on a board with water terrain it can be worth taking multiples, simply to take advantage of their alpha strike capacity with Pack.

Silent
One ability to keep in mind is Silent, which prevents the Silurid from being targetted by models that normally ignore line of sight. This is great against Lilith, Guild Austringers and models with Diving Charge, who would otherwise be able to wipe out the Silurid in short order.

=__Master-Specific Tips__=

Zoraida
Silurid come with Zoraida's Starter box, and Zoraida loves her Silurid. They're an in-theme minion for Zoraida, being swamp monsters, and they can easily match Zoraida's evasive playstyle. Since they tend to act as a group they're generally not a great target for obey and unstable evolution is rarely worth hexing off. That said, Zoraida loses nothing by including them in her crew, and gains an excellent hit and run minion who will excell in objective-based games. Personally, I believe Silurid are closest minion Zoraida has to being an 'auto-include'.

Marcus
Silurid should be the core of just about every Marcus crew. Their hit and run playstyle fits perfectly with Marcus and they provide him with an excellent, mid-costed melee minion. They can easily keep up with him, and can simultaneously activate via Pack if Marcus feels like launching an alpha-strike. They also benefit from Marcus's various Beast synergies. In fact one of the Silurid's main weaknesses (their low Wp) can be negated by Marcus' Howl, which makes them much more effective against Wp-based enemy crews and models. There's no other way to say it - you cannot go wrong by including Silurid in your Marcus Crew.

Lilith
Silurid are definitely not a bad choice for Lilith, but they're rarely taken. Taking Silurid might prevent Lilith from taking full advantage of using her Nephilim and Blood Counter synergies. However if the player doesn't mind that then the Silurid would make a decent, if odd, addition to her crew.

Pandora
Silurid have no Wp-based attacks, which gives them no real synergy with Pandora and her own Wp-centric playstyle. Pandora would value their extreme mobility but she otherwise gains little from investing the 10-15SS required for some Silurid.

The Dreamer
The Dreamer really is better off with all the Nightmares he can hire. While throwing in a non-Nightmare or two isn't a terrible idea, the 10-15 SS investment for Silurid really bites into the number of Nightmares he can otherwise take.

=__Minion-Specific Tips__= (As with Master-Specific Tips, going into any specific Synergies with other Minions.)