Steampunk+Arachnid+Swarm

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 * Steampunk Arachnid Swarm, Arcanist Minion**

=__Overview__=

The Steampunk Arachnid Swarm is the primary workhorse for crews led by Ramos, but you can utilize them with any Arcanist crews, and even in crews led by C. Hoffman or Leveticus. This model is typically well worth the 9 SS cost, and overall has good survivability, a good attack, and consistent damage output.

=__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. In addition, the distance a Swarm can cover is greatly increased due to the fact that you can typically use 2 Action Points for moving, and still be able to make 2 attacks, effectively giving an 8" threat range, which is actually quite decent compared to many other models.

**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 Arachnid Swarm is primarily a melee piece, and it does a fine job of it. Its basic melee attack has a respectable Cb of 5, but their damage flip is where they shine. Both the individual and Swarm modes have 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, thanks to the multiple attacks, and their very helpful trigger, Overwhelm.

(+2) Melee Master
This ability is the primary reason you will want to keep your Arachnids in their Swarm format. This allows you to move the full 8" and then still make two attacks. This makes the Arachnid Swarm incredibly dangerous, when your opponent has to consider that it can close in from outside even their own Cg range sometimes, and still do 6 Dg with two hits.

**Overwhelm Trigger**
This trigger is the other key reason to keep your Arachnids swarmed together whenever possible. They already start with the Tome in their Cb, and so any time you get a high Crow in your hand, you should try to hang onto it for use with your Arachnid Swarms. If played wisely, you can typically get Paralyze at least once or twice every single game, which can really ruin your opponent. It's often good to send your Arachnids to attack large opposing models with low Df, so you have greater chances for getting this trigger. It s also helpful to leave your Swarms to activate until later in the turn, when your opponent may have less cards for cheating fate. That way even if you flip something lower, like a 6 of Crows, your opponent may not have any cards left in their hand good enough to beat that. Lastly, this is one of the reasons it can be fun to pair a Swarm with Leveticus, as he can grant an extra Crow to the Swarm's Cb through his Blessings of Desolation spell. Automatic Paralyze trigger? Yes, please!

**Strength in Numbers**
When in their Swarm mode, the Arachnids can get a positive twist on Damage flips as long as they have 5 or more Wds remaining. This gives more flexibility in using whatever cards you flip from the deck, and not having to worry about cheating fate, so you can hang onto those higher cards to cheat in for Severe damage.

Self Destruction
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. Obviously, the Swarm's version of this ability is slightly better than the individual Arachnids, but you are also losing a 9 point model to do it. The 3" pulse for 3 Dg is very nice for taking out groups of weak models though, like Alps for example. 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. Even if death is the best option remember to use all your other action points first, especially the Melee Master ones!

=__Resilience__=

In general, the Arachnid Swarms are very resilient and can cause your opponent a fair amount of frustration in killing them. While the Swarms only have a 4 Df, they have other things at their disposal to help them, the least of which is a total of 9 Wds. 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 Arachnid Swarm is similar to the individual Arachnids, in that they still have Armor +1 and Evasive 3. With the total of 9 Wds, this can mean it takes your opponent a lot longer to chew through all of those Wds.

**Self Repair**
The Swarms have an excellent (0) ability allowing them to make a Healing Flip every single turn. This is one of the things which can infuriate your opponent as they work hard to get past your armor, and whittle away at their Wds, only to have you heal some of them back up again. Be sure to use this ability before you start attacking your opponent, to make sure you can benefit from Strength in Numbers, or before you Scatter into the individual Arachnids, since you have to spread the Wds around.

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 Self Repair 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. If you get to the end of your Arachnid Swarm's turn and you didn't need to use Self-Repair, always activate Disruption Field, just in case.

=__Tips and Tricks__=

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

On the other hand Scatter uses a Summon technique, so if you plan to do the Scatter action, always be sure to use 1 general AP for something else first, //and// use your (+2) Melee Master and probably Self Repair or Disruption Field as well. Then when you Scatter, if you activated Disruption Field, it will automatically pass onto each of your newly summoned individual Arachnids. When they come into play, since they are Summoned, they are treated as new models, each with their own activation, but they will be Slow during that turn which they were summoned. The Scatter action is also different from Swarm Together, in that the individual Arachnids do not activate immediately, as in the Swarm Together scenario.

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 with the one not in base contact to move into base contact and (0) Latch On. Then your two Arachnids in base contact can (0) Latch On and attack vs -4 and -6 Df. 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).

Lastly, the Overwhelm trigger, as mentioned above is one of the most dangerous things about the Arachnid Swarm, and it is worth learning how to utilize it well, both in the game itself, and as a psychological tactic. If your opponent knows that you have not yet activated a Swarm or two in range of some of his better pieces, he may be cautious about playing higher cards from his hand earlier in the turn, because he wants to keep those for cheating up his Df against the potential Swarm attacks. So there are some good mind-games that can be utilized with the Swarm.

=__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 Arachnid Swarm is an option that Leveticus can hire, at 9 SS, it typically means leaving out other key pieces for a typical Leveticus crew. The primary reason for using a Swarm though, is the previously mentioned tactic of using the Blessings of Desolation spell to grant the extra Crow to the Swarm's Cb, thus making the Overwhelm trigger go off automatically on every hit. This is a potentially quite strong tactic, and can make a Brawl with Leveticus and Ramos quite frustrating to play against.

**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. You can also generate a lot of scrap if you use Hoffmans Mechanical attendent with a swarm switching to individual arachnids and then back again.

=Minion-Specific Tips=

The primary synergy between the Arachnid Swarm and other pieces you will typically see with them, is in the use of the Overwhelm trigger. Paralyzing an opponent model causes it to be unable to make Disengaging Strikes, so it can be a nice defensive mechanism if an opponent has, for instance, tied up Ramos in combat. Hit that opponent with the Overwhelm trigger, and then Ramos, or whatever model it is that's in trouble, can make their walk actions to get out of combat unscathed.

Otherwise, the Arachnids operate very much independently. Their consistent damage output and general high threat level makes them good distractions as well. And then, they are not as easy to kill as opponents will think sometimes, so it presents tough choices as to which models your opponent tries to kill first. Again, as mentioned before, some useful psychological warfare can be utilized to great effect with the Swarm.

=__Playing Against a Steampunk Arachnid Swarm__=

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 Swarms, the biggest thing to remember is the Overwhelm trigger, followed by their Strength in Numbers ability. Hang onto good Df cards for your important models, and be wary of an opponent who still has cards, and may be sitting on a high Crow, just waiting for you to decline the chance to cheat fate on your Df flip. Do whatever you can to get them down to 4 Wds or left remaining. You will likely have to accept the fact that they will probably heal at least 2 Wds due to Self-Repair at some point.

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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