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Ok, so tried a Storm Strider for the first time yesterday. Ran him with eNemo which isn't exactly synergy--but Polarity Shield + its repulse field is pretty funny. Some initial thoughts;

Pros:
It's shooting is really pretty devastating. Mini chain lightnings going off cleared a lot of infantry around heavies if they ran too close and it's almost always effectively RAT 8.
With its 360 arc it really controls a lot of the board
Strangeways can crank on it--and he healed it up a couple of times for good measure
It really makes Stormblades Assualt Order shine if it's within 5" of their target
It looks freaking sweet to throw down on the table

Con:
It's huge--and really makes moving your army around it a pain. Definitely make sure you are happy with where it's going to be when you sit it down
Lacking the ability to throw focus on it really is bigger downer than I thought. Kinetic accumulator went off a couple of times before it died but that's not exactly a great thing.
It's ARM is pretty unimpressive considering they will always get CRAs against it.
Anything with Reach/High POW weapons or CRA is going to ruin its day



Things I will try next:

Needs a Jr. with Arcane Shield
Siege's feat turn

First, so I can get the nonsense out of my system.... At least you can make Nikolai Tesla jokes while you shoot all the electric death from it.

I would imagine using it will get better once the "big target syndrome" wears off. The one ivething I can imagine it will be useful for is camping on an objective, to annoy your opponent.

Be careful with Siege's feat. Since models only suffer 1/2 ARM for the first attack, a cluster of heavies could easily weather a less-than-optimal chain lightning jump that burn's through Siege's feat debuff with a Pow 10.

I've been itching to try a storm strider into my ehaley list. Temporal Acceleration and/or deadeye can make it a real bastard to infantry, while deceleration bumps it's lackluster armour up to weather enemy shooting. Like every other model, Telekinesis and time bomb have great offensive and defensive value with the strider (making high DEF models easy to hit, and preventing them from charging it).

btemple0 wrote:First, so I can get the nonsense out of my system.... At least you can make Nikolai Tesla jokes while you shoot all the electric death from it.

I would imagine using it will get better once the "big target syndrome" wears off. The one ivething I can imagine it will be useful for is camping on an objective, to annoy your opponent.

Yeah it squatted in the control zone pretty well until it was blown up! I could see it being pretty useful in scenario play though--and as pro (and con)--not having to attribute focus to it would be ok for focus hungry casters.

sourclams wrote:Be careful with Siege's feat. Since models only suffer 1/2 ARM for the first attack, a cluster of heavies could easily weather a less-than-optimal chain lightning jump that burn's through Siege's feat debuff with a Pow 10.

And that's why I pay attention to your posts---that's great info and I honestly hadn't even considered that! Thanks and I'll have to watch my activation order.

The Defenestrator wrote:I've been itching to try a storm strider into my ehaley list. Temporal Acceleration and/or deadeye can make it a real bastard to infantry, while deceleration bumps it's lackluster armour up to weather enemy shooting. Like every other model, Telekinesis and time bomb have great offensive and defensive value with the strider (making high DEF models easy to hit, and preventing them from charging it).

I'll be honest--every time I read a unit I think "Man Haley would really do well with this...". I've resisted playing her though..

Although it is not the Storm Strider in this video, this is entirely where I got the idea of just having it camp an objective.

I use one fairly successfully with pNemo, haven't had the opportunity to try it with any other casters yet.

I have proxied one twice with rather positive results. with pHaley it took a flank vs some neglected infantry as my opponent pushed hard on the other flank and got in some good shots late game. Deadeye, temporal barrier, and blitz are some of the most effective buffs I could think of to give the strider without dedicating the whole list to it.
With Kraye it was great. It blocked los to my large based caster and still got to shoot up to midfield. I had arcane shield on it from jr. in that game so the odds of them getting something that devastating that far up to kill it in one turn unexpectedly was very low. In this game it was more about what the strider offered my caster rather than what my caster could do to make the strider awesome.

AgeOfEgos wrote:

I'll be honest--every time I read a unit I think "Man Haley would really do well with this...". I've resisted playing her though..

Consider pHaley, then.

Junior puts Arc Shield on the Storm Strider so that it sits at a respectable ARM21.

Haley spams Temporal-Your-Army-Sucks-Now while sitting safely out of LOS behind a 5" pie plate with a 16" control area thanks to Squire.

The Storm Strider now cannot be charged (unless by models starting ridiculously far away), is safely beyond the touchable ARM of anything but the biggest CRAs and boosted damage rolls, and your army is relatively free to go heavy hunting while it electrifies any infantry swarms.

Jr is good support for a strider.

I think the best casters are Siege, pHaley, eHaley and eNemo.

Siege is the only one I would try a strider with at 35pts.

Weasel, I think your list is a bit short. pStryker, pCaine, and Sloan all have something to offer the strider. pStryker in particular has two great upkeeps and a worthwhile feat for the strider.
I have a question for the cygnar community in general regarding the strider; Do you you find yourselves replacing jacks or infantry with your striders? I tend to replace ranged infantry almost every time I think about taking one.

I don't think I would take snipe over AS on a strider as far as pCaine is concerned.

Sloan has deadeye, just like the haley's. Not much else there.

pStryker's could be included. EQ and his feat are solid. There are just so many ways to deal with KD and I would prefer an offensive feat rather than a defensive one with the strider.

imweasel wrote:

pStryker's could be included. EQ and his feat are solid. There are just so many ways to deal with KD and I would prefer an offensive feat rather than a defensive one with the strider.

His feat is offensive...if you play it aggressively.

As for the strider I find myself replacing anti-infantry jacks at 35 points atm (usually the cyclone).

Casper wrote:

His feat is offensive...if you play it aggressively.

It's not directly offensive for the strider. I would prefer something that either screws my opponent's turn, halves my opponent's armor, gives me an extra shot. I make an exception with eNemo as polarity shield is just good with the strider.

eHaley No Quarter theme list, buff said. Advance move striders and max power tokens. It's super good.

sourclams wrote:

AgeOfEgos wrote:

I'll be honest--every time I read a unit I think "Man Haley would really do well with this...". I've resisted playing her though..

Consider pHaley, then.

Junior puts Arc Shield on the Storm Strider so that it sits at a respectable ARM21.

Haley spams Temporal-Your-Army-Sucks-Now while sitting safely out of LOS behind a 5" pie plate with a 16" control area thanks to Squire.

The Storm Strider now cannot be charged (unless by models starting ridiculously far away), is safely beyond the touchable ARM of anything but the biggest CRAs and boosted damage rolls, and your army is relatively free to go heavy hunting while it electrifies any infantry swarms.

I was under the impression that both Haleys were equally annoying/un fun to play against. Or is it just eHaley?

I was under the impression that both Haleys were equally annoying/un fun to play against. Or is it just eHaley?

If your a M4 army its annoying. The Haley's are annoying but can be be dealt with efficiently. You shouldn't let your opponents opinion on casters effect who you play.

Both Haleys deny opponent some possibilities. pHaley is not as frustrating to play against as epic, but she is still strong with her you cannot charge at my forces approach.

Charge or run and -2def. It's a spell that's almost a feat.