Gatorman Posse - Shovel Headed Kill Machines

Gatorman Posse are the backbone of the Blindwater Congregation. I consider them to be amongst the best medium-based infantry in the game on account of their speed, survivability and damage potential.

Damage

MAT 7, 2x P+S 13 attacks (one with reach), and the option to reroll against living models. In context, this means you can very reliably kill almost any small-based model in the game quite reliably, including warcasters that don't camp 50 focus and warlocks. Very solid damage output. They will struggle against things that are above ARM 19 and have enough boxes to survive a charge.

Survivability

DEF 12 and ARM 16, 8 boxes. Looks pretty solid on the surface, and comparable to other elite infantry. However, you throw in their Dirge of Mist prayer (see below), Unyielding and their access to Faction buffs, and these guys are a serious pain to remove. Iron Flesh + Swamp Pits under Barnabas, Death Pact + feat under Maelok, Occultation under Calaban and the Zombify buff from the Witch Doctor make a tough unit even tougher.

Utility

Not only does the Posse have excellent damage and survivability, but they also bring with them a heap of tools to deal with different situations.

Bloodthirst gives them a threat range of 12" against living models, which seems kind of insane for medium-based infantry. Compare this with Cataphracts (10") or MoW Demo Corps (9"). Most of the time, this advantage means you will get the first charge.

Prayers are also extremely useful. Note that these are not spells nor are they orders, so to my knowledge cannot be denied, and you can do them even when running the unit:

• Cold Blood - reroll missed attacks against living models. With a MAT 7, this means you have a semi decent shot at hitting DEF 16 without any external help. Freakin' sweet, or what? As always though, think of it as an insurance mechanism rather than a straight buff.
• Dirge of Mists - +1 DEF and Terror. I cast this turn 1 every game with every Posse - that +1 can make all the difference. Makes them DEF 16 under Iron Flesh.
• March - gain Pathfinder. Speaks for itself really.

Tactica

The basic strategy with the Posse is this:

1. Turn 1 - Put up Dirge of Mists, run up a certain distance.
2. Turn 2 - Charge living things and get stuck in. You want to have each Posse member either engaged and benefitting from Unyielding, or staying back a few inches so as to be safe from retaliation and ready to counter charge.
3. Turn 3 - Keep killing until there's nothing left.

That's the gist of it. Gatormans, being quality Minions, are a very independent unit and do not really need external buffs to make them do their job well. Just keep in mind that they slaughter anything ARM 17 and below, but really start to have trouble with anything above that.

• Barnabas - I try to take two max units when I can. It's quite easy to completely wipe out multiple units of infantry on his feat turn with each Gator having 2 POW 13 attacks.
  Iron Flesh + Dirged Gators make a pretty effective tarpit for Turns 3 onwards.
  Swamp Pits are awesome for protecting Posse first two turns.
• Maelok - two max units is compulsory. Reviving a Gatorman under his feat is an excellent to get to key models in the backfield. He also makes them tougher under Death Pact, Zombify and his feat. Death Pact + Unyielding + Feat = ARM 22.
• Calaban - I've found he benefits more from one unit than two. If you have some high defense targets (ie. Winterguard), they will benefit greatly from Carnivore. Occultation is also usually best placed on a Posse first turn, then shifted onto a beast later. 
• Rask - Rask trades the Barnabas/Maelok attrition for raw assault. Rask more or less solves the Posse's two glaring issues - getting shot up on the way in, and not being able to crack high ARM. His feat + Inhospitable Ground delivers Posse like nothing else and Fury makes charging Gators kill almost anything in the game.
  You will almost always want at least 2 units of Posse for this reason, and a third unit is certainly not a bad option.
  
  

Conclusion

Best medium-based infantry in the game. Well, top 3 at the very least. They are really good at fighting and killing things, which is more or less what you'd expect of troops in a war game. The models are a little outdated and make them look a little more cartoony than intended, but they are still pretty sweet.

Their biggest weakness is that, as Minions, they are not considered Faction models and thus are not able to benefit from a large range of damage or survivability buffs. For us Blindwater players however, this is not a problem!