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Flayed Ones in the new zombie-bot Codex has been stapled with the title of "worst unit in the codex" and rather rightly so. However, I wanted to take another look at them.
(please feel free to correct me as I go, I don't have the Codex with me atm)

Generally from my research on the internet in various forums and clubs, Flayed Ones are terrible for 3 main reasons:

1. They aren't good at what they are meant to do.
2. They can't shoot.
3. There are better elite choices

The first one is quite obvious. Other than the 4 attacks a piece they get on the charge, Flayed Ones' cc capability is unimpressive. Additionally, they can't be joined by a Lord to bolster their measly hitting power. With the nerf to their armor and RA, they aren't exactly durable either. In short, they aren't TH/SS Termies. Actually, they aren't even Assault Marines with their Initiative 2 and lack of special weaponry.
I guess the second one can be justified by saying "assault units don't need guns". It just means that Flayed Ones can be kited all day even after Deep Striking.
I believe that the third reason hits hardest. There are simply so many better elite units that Flayed Ones won't see much play in any situation.


However, I do believe in seeing some merit in them:

1. They are relatively cheap for a Deep Striking unit.
2. They have psychological effects
3. They work with Imotekh.

14 points a piece for something that can Deep Strike and has 4 attacks on the charge isn't a terrible bargain I think. Throw in RA and perhaps it can be justified. If you think about other suicide Deep Striking units, none are cheaper than 14pnts a model (I think).
I'm one of those players who believe looks and models can effect the game in a psychological way. Why? Because when I see Imperial Guard tanks rolling up, I just think about pointing my lascannons in that direction. When I see Carnifex/Ork nob squad with fancy toys/anything Chaos running at me I go "HOLY EMPRAH SAVE MA BUTT". It just when you see scary-looking models... its scary. I mean this doesn't apply to every player obviously (it might be just me too) but you definitely don't want Flayed Ones charging your Broadsides. \
Imotekh makes these guys land right where they want without scattering. I think this can be a boon if you use it right. Especially against shooty armies like Tau or IG, designating a Broadside or Heavy Weapons team and just dropping a 5-model Flayed Ones squad near them would be a problem.


So my thoughts are this:

Take Imotekh.
Designate a shooty unit (Devastators, Havoc, Broadside, Firewa-sissies, anything Guard)
Drop Flayed Ones
Laugh like a homicidal maniac until they get wiped out.


Dropping a relatively cheap, expendable cc unit into the middle of the enemy army will do one of two things:
1. Flayed Ones will soak up some fire and die as soon as they come out of Deep Strike.
2. They won't get wiped, will either force the shooty units to move or charge them.
Result? They aren't shooting your Immortals/Lords/Crypteks/anything more valuable.

A 5-model squad will cost 70pnts. In games where you have an elite slot open and extra 70pnts to spare, I think these guys are worth a try.


And yes, I know... I know.... Necron air calvary is so much better. However, I'm a fan of the old-style Crons so.... yeah...




just thoughts. Any comments?

My thought: If you really want Flayed Ones you should try the IA12-list.
They are troops and the first round of combat you can give them Shred.

Three guesses to what FO's biggest problems are:
They aren't troops and they don't have a special rule.
So it's almost perfect that IA12 fixes that.

A few pointers

They are 13 ppm, same cost as warriors.

Imotehks nanoswarm scarabs are randomly assigned to a non-vehicle unit in the enemy army, you don't get to choose and its the whole army, including those in reserve imo

I have had this backfire on me when it was on swooping hawks that 'bounced' all game

An important thing you missed is that they have Infiltrate, So you can get a 20 flayed one pack closer or into enemy lines.

You can attach a Destroyer lord to the unit when it deepstrikes, I have used this with Imotehks ability and without, and a 14 (that,s all the flayed one models i have) squad, a bit expensive but PE on those flayed ones with 4 attacks each, with a 4+ re-animation protocol too from res orb on lord

You don't pit them against power weapon equiped units, that's just idiocy, but they will rip through basic infantry with their bucket of dice. I believe this is their intended use, not as an elite kill all comers unit like some cc dedicated choices are.

I also use them to back up a C'tan shard, he can use them as an extra chance to regain a wound from gaze and then RP them back to life ...maybe

I use plenty of flayed ones...in my Dark Harvest list, I love my D&D squads and stalkers too much to replace them with Flayed Ones in my codex lists.

I've already largely said my piece in the other FO thread, but basically my opinion is this.

Normal FO are a pretty niche pick, some people have had success with them, but I don't see them being very effective.

Dark Harvest FO are a nice choice, being infiltrating troops that have shred.

I look at FOs similar to ork Boyz in that the stat line is about the same. Points-wise they obviously cost more bc you have a better save, infiltrate, deep strike, and RP.

When I've used them, the largest issue is getting them into combat. Deep striking the, causes a nice distraction for my opponent to shoot at instead of another unit. Outflanking then when doing Vanguard Strike Deployment really freaks my opponents out (especially IG and Tau).

Personally, I like using them and have had moderate success in both IA12 and normal lists. The one thing I have learned from using them is that numbers matter. Taking one unit of 20 is better than 2 units of 10 (unless you reroll your reserve rolls). Infiltrating them is decent as well but puts them up close and personal fast for an opponent to get first blood if you aren't careful.

You can attach a Destroyer lord to the unit when it deepstrikes, I have used this with Imotehks ability and without, and a 14 (that,s all the flayed one models i have) squad, a bit expensive but PE on those flayed ones with 4 attacks each, with a 4+ re-animation protocol too from res orb on lord

Can you do this? I read somewhere that you can't join on deployment unless the character also had infiltrate regardless of deep striking or not. Would the outflanking work too if I got that warlord trait?

Can you do this? I read somewhere that you can't join on deployment unless the character also had infiltrate regardless of deep striking or not. Would the outflanking work too if I got that warlord trait?

You can't join them when they are infiltrating as the destroyer lord does not have infiltrate. However he does have deepstrike so he can join them when they deepstrike (all models have to have the deepstrike rule), and only 1 model in a unit has to have the outflank rule (so you don't need the warlord trait) so you could attach an overlord or destroyer lord to an outflanking flayed one unit.

When I've used them, the largest issue is getting them into combat.

They can be a nice deterrent too, someone is not going to come close to your line if you have a unit of flayed ones hiding in a ruin ready to jump out and bucket of dice them