The rest - Gobbers, Thrullg, Croaks, Feralgeist and Pendrake

Being the last of the 'tactica' articles for currently released models, I've decided to just do quick write-ups on the less common/complicated models.

Swamp Gobbers

These little hobos are really quite good. They aren't as good as they were in Mk1 by a long-shot, but being able to put a huge cloud effect in front of your casters or top of your stuff to grant concealment is not to be dismissed. That will make your Dirged Posse DEF 15 vs ranged attacks, and makes the Boneswarm look even crappier (Snapper + Gobbers > Boneswarm).

They are insanely squishy so would do well to hug a Spitter for Girded when they can. Note also that even when clouds are no longer useful in a game situation, you still have two small-based models with melee weapons that can block charge lanes and take monstrous P+S 5 free strikes. You'd be surprised at the damage a free-striking or charging Gobber can cause.

Clouds are good. A great way to use up that last point in any list. Just make sure you keep them well back and activate them last!

Thrullg

This guys seems to be pretty useful but at 3pts, looks quite expensive and squishy. Being on a medium base and unable to benefit from any magic buffs (Spell Ward), he will get shot to pieces by any opponent worth his salt. Gators is probably one of the best factions to run him because of the large amount of medium bases to screen him from getting shot.

#1 pro-tip for this guy: Advance Deployment is a trap! Do NOT put him in front of your army by himself. He should be deployed with the rest of your force, and used primarily to hit enemy offkeeps off your own models. Definitely a late game model.
In the meantime, he can stay protected and provide a pretty strong deterrent to enemy magic users (that deterrent being death) and bide his time. Once the lines have engaged and a few turns gone by, he can get involved by killing some troops, disrupting some jacks, or knocking focus off the enemy caster. At MAT 7 with three attacks, he is pretty decent in melee.
#2 pro tip: knocking down a non-reach warjack and then disrupting it with your reach tentacle is sweet.

Definitely has a place in most competitive Gator lists so you do not autolose the game vs bad upkeeps like Crippling Grasp.

Croak Hunter

This guy seems pretty good on paper but is pretty crap on the table. He is basically that generic 2pt combat solo that you throw in to fill your list and is slightly better than an average small-based trooper. I've never been impressed by them, nor have I been really disappointed (like I am with Calaban). They aren't especially good at holding objectives since they are so squishy and only have one attack.

They are ok at assassinating squishier living things, and in packs are quite capable of killing light warbeasts. They are also not too bad at baiting people out, since Poison ranged attacks can instill a bit of fear.
Like the Thrullg, AD is a bit of a trap on Croaks. I think the best use of them is to keep them back for the first 2-3 turns behind your Gator wall (where their stealth will matter) and use them to either clean up loose models contesting zones with their ranged attacks, or get high-potential countercharges on living targets (MAT 8 POW 12 weapon master charges = ouch). If you put them out front as anything other than bait against bloodthirsty players, they will die and do nothing.

Feralgeist

This guy is super solid for one point. He is insanely squishy with ARM 11 but he is incorporeal AND a low-priority target, so if you play him conservatively and just do the basics with him, you should get his point's worth out of him and more.

• Scenario Powerhouse - being 1pt and having a CMD stat allows this guy to hold and contest scenario objectives and zones! Extremely useful for a low model count force like Gatormans.
• Blocking movement - despite being incorporeal (not blocking LoS and people can just walk through him), he is still a model with a base, and therefore other models cannot end their movement on top of him. This is great at blocking charges through narrow gaps, and very great at douching huge-based models.
• Taking over dead warbeasts - he also does this. For some reason, this is the one rule I always forget but it does prove very useful at forcing your opponent to make just one more attack to clear a lane or zone. Seems to me the undead warbeast will also be affected by Maelok's feat if it's up?
• Being a frenzy target - if you expect one of your warbeasts (or an enemy beast) to frenzy next turn, park this guy right in front of it. Better a warbeast do nothing than kill something useful. 
• Being a throw target - two-handed throw your own stuff at him so it doesn't deviate.

A strong competitor to Swamp Gobbers for that last 1pt slot.

Hugz?

Victor Pendrake

I do not have that much experience with this guy, but I like him for 2pts in a list that has a a slight Hordes skew (specifically Circle and Legion). He is like a crappier version of Saxon Orrik (who I really wish I could take since he is so baller), but does have his redeeming points:

• First of all, his stats are pretty decent.  SPD 6, MAT/RAT 6, DEF/ARM 14 and Tough.
• Secondly, he has a magical melee weapon which is big deal for Blindwater. 
• Third, his +4 DEF against any physical attacks made by warbeasts allows him to tie them up late game and take sweet Dismember free strikes against them, especially if you can put a medium base behind him to block tramples.
• Fourth, he has a RNG 12 bow with rerolls OR a RNG 8 knockdown gun. This alone puts him on equal footing with a Croak Hunter in my opinion.
• Finally, and most importantly, is his Beast Lore ability, which basically means charging Gators can destroy high DEF warbeasts without breaking a sweat (including Forced Evo Tenacity-ed Angels).

He will only become more valuable as Specialists become more common.


Updated Oct 2013 - some more on Croaks and Pendrake.

Where to from here?

Having completed the epic model write-ups for our small Minion pact, this blog will probably slow down quite a bit in terms of new content but will hopefully remain as a useful archive for current and future Blindwater players.

Stuff you can expect to see here in the future:

• My thoughts on new releases/spoilers
• Model write-ups and tacticas after I've had some playtime with new stuff
• General wargaming/games design articles
• Battle summaries/match-up thoughts (turn-by-turn battle reports are usually boring)
• Random gaming-related rage
• Anything else you'd like to read (leave a comment)