Initial Thoughts on Kraye

Based on yesterday's game, I've thought a lot about Kraye. More specifically, how to utilize the remaining points after he's bought 2 Stormwalls + the mandatory stuff (Squire + Junior). There's basically nothing more than 13 points to play around with, I need an extremely good reason to ditch either the Squire or Junior. The only reason I'll leave either of them is if experience shows me that the matchup I play him in doesn't call for their abilities, something I hardly doubt. 

One of the main reasons why I wanted to try Kraye over Stryker in the first place was that he basically trades durability for mobility -and- hitting power. Ever since I started playing miniature games over 10 years ago I've favoured mobility over anything else. Yesterday's turn 1 move where I ran a Stormwall up 20" before my opponent had even moved a single model made me realize immediately that this list is something I have to pursue further! I believe that in most games the aggressor determines when and where the fighting happens. If you can set the pace and control the board you typically have more options, which is almost always a good thing.

So, the first list iteration was a dead copy of Stryker1's list. I basically just swapped the caster. Two of Kraye's key abilities are mage sight and guided fire. This allows the Stormwalls to do things they rarely can otherwise. On a "squire-turn" I can get off all 4 big gun shots with both boosted attack -and- damage rolls. That is massive! My first instinct was to include an element which further amplifies this potential.

Enter Aiyana & Holt. They are our obvious go-to unit for amplifying damage output. The question is: Do they fit into this list? How? I'm not sure they are worth the heavy 4 point investment. While Ragman is a potential candidate for half the price as well, he doesn't help their shooting the same way. I have to at least try them though before I disregard them. A natural first step then is to simply swap 2 Storm Lances for them, which (luckily) adds up points-wise.

The list I intend to try out then in the near future:

Kraye
- Squire
- Stormwall
- Stormwall
Journeyman Warcaster
Stormsmith Stormcaller
Stormsmith Stormcaller
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt
Storm Lances (min)