The next Warband being focused on from earlier today is Skaeth's Wild Hunt. Wishing there was another Centaur or two, but Satyrs are also a favorite of mine.
via the Warhammer Community
https://www.warhammer-community.com/2019/09/18/warband-focus-skaeths-wild-huntgw-homepage-post-2/
Are they aelves? Are they Sylvaneth? Or are they something else entirely? Most people get a javelin to the face before they ever find out… In today’s Warband Focus, we’re taking a closer look at Skaeth’s Wild Hunt – a mysterious band of Kurnoth-worshippers debuting in the new Warhammer Underworlds: Beastgrave Core Set.
Who are Skaeth’s Wild Hunt?
Spiritual avatars of nature in its most primal and aggressive state, Skaeth’s Wild Hunt are savage – yet noble – worshippers of Kurnoth, god of the hunt. Preying on those who would despoil nature, now they work tirelessly to slay those infected with the Katophrane curse to prevent the corruption from spreading further.
The Fighters
Skaeth is the leader of the warband, and the Kurnothi equivalent of a ballistic missile, combining excellent movement with a cracking ranged attack that allows him to slay smaller fighters pretty much anywhere on the board from the first activation. When inspired, his Kicking Hooves gain the Scything keyword – a new catch-all term for attacks that target all adjacent enemies, allowing him to make some truly devastating assaults!
Karthaen is a key fighter in Skaeth’s Wild Hunt, capable of casting spells and possessing an excellent action on his fighter card. By using his Hunting Horn, this fighter can provide you with some much-needed re-rolls. An excellent opening play for Skaeth’s Wild Hunt is to use Karthaen’s Hunting Horn, before sending Skaeth to deliver a devastating blow to one of your enemy’s smaller fighters in the next activation.
Sheoch is a fast and reliable melee fighter, great for finishing off enemies weakened by Skaeth, or preying on weaker foes. After they’ve inspired, Sheoch gains Cleave and 3 Attack dice, making them superb for dealing with armoured enemies.
Where Sheoch is best used for dealing with slower, tougher foes like Stormsire’s Cursebreakers, Althaen is most suited to picking off fast and slippery targets, like the grots of Zarbag’s Gitz, or damage enemies at range to weaken them for a knockout punch from Skaeth.
Who’s a good kitty? Not this savage bringer of Kurnoth’s wrath! Lighaen is incredibly fast, and gains Ensnare (like Cleave, but for Dodge rolls) when inspired, making them perfect for chasing down any stragglers who think they can escape nature’s wrath!
Play Style
When playing Skaeth’s Wild Hunt, a little caution and patience go a very long way. With your speed and striking power, it’ll be tempting to dive in right away – but you’ll find it’s better to play cautiously until your enemy has used their best fighters, making your most ambitious plays in the latter part of a round. We recommend kicking off every game by using Karthaen’s Hunting Horn, followed by a well-placed Javelin of the Hunt from Skaeth. From there, you’ll want to pick off overexposed enemy fighters to generate glory, using your mobility to avoid counterattacks.
Top Gambits
Skaeth’s Wild Hunt has a good mix of gambits, with pushes and mobility-manipulators, as well as straight-up damage boosts. Strike In Concert, when used effectively, can allow even your weaker fighters to do phenomenal damage – we’d recommend using a long-distance push like Pounce to set it up. Retrieve Javelin is another cracking gambit, giving you a second shot at Skaeth’s excellent javelin attack.
Top Upgrades
The upgrades available to Skaeth’s Wild Hunt really help you get the most out of your fighters – while it’s tempting to just stack up as many as you can on Skaeth himself, you’ll find it’s more efficient to spread out fighter-specific choices across the warband. Fast Shot, for instance, is great for maximising the damage dealt by Althaen, particularly when used to knock enemies onto lethal hexes.
Hunting Aspect, meanwhile, makes Lighaen pretty terrifying and is great for catching foes who’d otherwise underestimate them. Lastly, Kurnoth’s Mark a nifty pick in any aggressive deck – just charge in, hope for a kill, and use the extra defensive prowess afforded by the card to shield you from retribution.
Top Objectives
Early glory generation is key to winning with Skaeth’s Wild Hunt, particularly against warbands without a 2 Wound fighter for Skaeth to slay early on in the battle. Luckily, your warband has loads of great options to choose from – Kurnoth’s Snare is a super simple surge to score, while Ritual Kill helps you maximise the glory scored from a slain enemy, as well as giving you a reason to place your objectives carefully, even if you’re playing an aggressive deck.
Finally, we love Hunt’s End – one of the invaluable new hybrid objectives! This new class of objective can be scored when one of the two conditions on the card is met, meaning you can adjust your strategy on the fly. Feeling confident of a kill? Go for the first condition! Rather hang back? Hold objectives instead!
These are just our favourites – take a look at all the warband-specific cards for yourself below and see what combos you can come up with!
You don’t have long to wait until you’ll be stalking the halls of Beastgrave with Skaeth’s Wild Hunt!
