Unit of the Week: Wracks

[Vel'Cona]

Moving on from the Kabal units, this next series will take a look in-depth at the Coven units.  The first we need to discuss are the twisted and vile Troops choice, the Wracks.  Other than being incredibly characterful and unique models, Wracks have been integral to Coven lists since their introduction and form the "tough but slower" element of the DE list.  Let's take a look at their particular traits:

 

+Mold-breaking Toughness 4 and 5+ Invulnerable save make for durable foot infantry

+Always wound on 4+ in melee (except versus Vehicles)

+Slower than other DE Troops choices, but still 7" Move

+Benefit from Coven Obsessions

+Interesting ranged upgrades

+Power From Pain

 

-No shooting other than upgrade choices

-Nearly useless against Vehicles

-Most expensive of the 3 DE Troops units, per model

 

In general, Wracks are your best choice for backfield objective grabbing despite their lack of guns, thanks to their durability and reasonable cost.  They benefit immensely from nearby Haemonculi, which are thankfully nearly mandatory in a Coven Detachment (more on these guys, later).  The lack of overall firepower at range is an issue, though their single long-ranged choice, the Ossefactor, is an interesting gun with some potential.  Perhaps the best aspect of Wracks is that they benefit from Coven Obsessions which can bolster their utility and durability immensely, depending on the Coven chosen.

 

For me, Wracks have been something of a mixed bag in 8th.  I like their comparative durability and love the concept, but I just can't seem to find a role that they fill, combat-wise, better than either Kabalite Warriors or Wyches.  Durability is nice, but with Grotesques and Talos being so points-efficient these days I feel like Wracks are essentially compulsory only for Detachment requirements.

 

What thoughts do you all have about successfully applying these gangling horrors?  Is there a trick I've missed?

[Lord Asvaldir]

I've used a single unit of 10 wracks fairly often and they usually perform ok. I always run them prophets of flesh and escorting a haemonculus so for single wound infantry models they actually are really tough and technically harder to kill than our vehicles. I've also used the black cornucopias stratagem once or twice and it's been a real pain for my opponent to deal with that tough unit which just came back full strength, the trick of course though is you need to bring them back on the table before your opponent can wipe out the whole unit. I also usually tend to footslog them, since buying transports for all my warriors/wyches is such a higher priority, and wracks can afford to advance on foot with their durability. 

 

All that being said, I think they are the weakest troop option we have. They hold their own fairly well in melee, but wyches actually do just as good as job as tarpits, probably better thanks to the no escape rule, and thanks to drugs can usually kill more than wracks. The ossefactor is a nice little gun for the wracks, but it's not a major boost to their combat abilities considering you're getting 2 shots from a unit of 10. Liqufier is still too expensive for me to consider taking. 

 

I'll probably keep using them because I really like the models and man I found them so much easier to paint than wyches, but wracks are definitely in the ok camp not amazing. It's the talos and grots that are going to really be the damage dealers from coven units.