Hello again Venetians and welcome to a closer look at the Deeper Denizens box. Today we’ll be looking at how to use these monstrous children of Dagon in your games of Carnevale.
Getting straight into it, the Deeper Denizens box is more of an upgrade box to an existing gang, rather than a standalone box. Coming in at 50 Ducats, this box comes with a single Slave, two Hybrid Rashaar, and a hulking Raadru. Add in a Magi-Rashaar and a Flashbang, or a Voice of Dagon and a Flashbang to get a viable 75 Ducat gang.
Hybrids
Buff Fishmen
Recently we made some changes to Hybrids by dropping their Ducat cost, giving them an extra inch of movement, and two more Will Points! They’re now a less pretty, slightly less resilient Citizen analogue for Rashaar gangs. With 4 movement and dexterity they’re no slouch, able to scale small buildings and will get into the thick of it soon enough. 3 Attack and 11 Life is about average for the most of the citizenry of Venice. They do suffer in the defensive department, however, with 3 Protection and 2 Mind they’re slightly less tough than a Citizen.
Water Wings
The key difference between a Citizen and a Hybrid is the lack of the Unity Rule, replaced with Fast Swimmer (2). This changes the role of a Hybrid quite a bit, instead of a pack based bruiser, the Hybrid is a Skirmisher. Get one of these guys in close, attack, then flee via the many waterways of Venice. Use something big to grapple your foes into the water for your Hybrids to make use of their Dive Knife. It’s aquatic so you still get to use it while swimming and as you’re moving 4″ in water, you’ll be able to outmanoeuvre anything short of a Fisherman.
Slaves
Eating Healthy
Anyone that already plays Rashaar is familiar with these walking health potions. They’re cheap, they can body block for you, and are a quick snack for your Monsters (yes, even your Gifted!). They’ll keep up well with most of your other characters, 4″ moves aren’t exactly sluggish. They do lack a lot in defence though, getting hit on 3’s with 2 Protection means when they get hit they get hit hard.
Plan your Meals
Knowing the right time to feed your slaves to a Monster can mean the difference between it living and ending up in a Butcher’s shop. If your monster can survive another hit or two, it’s safe to leave the Slave to activate last, it’s Feast for Dagon doesn’t use an Action Point so keep them within 8″ of a monster. They lack any sort of Will of their own so boosting any stat is out of the question, it may sometimes be worth it to throw a Cantrip of the Chariot their way if they need to re position further away.
Another great use of your slaves is as a will point battery for your Leaders. With the Rashaar Command Ability you can target your own Slaves to gain Will Points back. While this does mean they’ll take damage, even a Slave with 1 Life Point left heals for 5. Combine this with Fiery Rhetoric (or copied via Cantrip of Justice) to turn Slave Life into almost free Will Points.
Starve them out
When you’re playing against Slaves treat them as a target of opportunity, if you have a spare Action Point that might go to waste, then a charge against a Slave might be a good idea. If you can force them to disengage you might be able to get a second hit in, or make them waste a Feast for Dagon on a high Life Monster.
Raadru
Monstrous Bulk
The Raadru is one of the biggest Heroes available to the Rashaar, while dwarfed by the Morgraur it’s a third of the cost and still packs a punch. Raadru’s are tough, 20 Life Points and 6 Protection are tough to get through, but its 3 Dexterity makes it easy to hit. You won’t be getting a Raadru anywhere in a hurry thanks to a meagre 3 Movement, but a Mage with Cantrip of the Chariot can help alleviate its methodical pace. Keeping a Raadru in water until you need to strike is another valid tactic for dealing with it’s speed. Water Creature and Fast Swimmer (2) let this monster move 5″ in water.
Packing a Punch
Once you manage to get a Raadru into combat, he quickly becomes a powerhouse. 5 Attack is nothing to be sniffed at, especially as his mighty Webbed Fists add another 2 damage on top of your attack damage. Even on low Life a Raadru is dangerous. Berserk turns 10 attack dice into 18 attack dice per activation, more if you add any additional effects. Fear (1) also gives a good chance to re-roll failed dice when you attack.
Distraction Raadru
Let’s face it, anything with the Monster keyword is probably going to be targeted first. Why not use this to your advantage. No one wants a big Rashaar anywhere near their side of the board, so get yours as far up as you can. Cantrip of the Chariot, Limewater Rebreather, or Command Points your Raadru straight towards your opponents important characters. This will pretty much guarantee your opponent focuses on taking out the big guy, leaving your fast Water Creatures to carry objectives or smaller Monsters to contest them.
The Deeper Denizens box is a great addition to a Rashaar Gang. Letting you add a big heavy hitter, or some water friendly skirmishers, or another snack box for the monsters you already have in your gang.
You can order Deeper Denizens here and the rest of the Rashaar range here.