Your favorite tarpit unit for a ranged army

[rolandhadley]

I'm putting together a Kara army with the usual mix of ranged jacks, units and solos, and I want to complete it with a melee tarpit unit to prevent my ranged units from being overrun. I'm curious as to what others usually use as tarpits in their ranged armies. This is what I'm looking at:

1) Boomhowler/Trolls. These guys seem like kind of the obvious choice with their 4, 5, and 6 tough rolls as they approach the enemy. Very hard to take out, and ARM 19 with Arcane Shield.

2) Precursor Knights. Immunity to spells and ARM 21 with Shield Wall and Arcane Shield seems great. Their once a game damage boost gives them real punch on the charge. Being able to trace LOS through them is very handy for all my ranged stuff.

3) Sword Knights. Cheap as dirt. Can keep up high armor while running towards the enemy (ARM 19 with Arcane Shield) with Defensive line. Flanking w/Warjack seems wasted, since my jacks will be hanging back.

4) Steelhead Halberdiers. Cheap as above. Charge for/against bonuses help damage and defense.

5) Forge Guard. Do huge amounts of damage. Extremely high armor even when running with Defensive line (21 with Arcane Shield).

With Mercs, there's also that new solo that makes them Cygnar, which could be very handy with ignoring LOS through the Forge Guard, or having Trolls Assault and Dig In.

Right now, I'm leaning toward the first two. What are everyone's thoughts on tarpit units with Kara?

[Trollicious]

I dont really run much of a tarpit with kara in favor of bringing more firepower to mow things down at range. Currently, I'm running nyss and murdoch up front, with the piper to keep them tough once they get into melee. def 15 and tough is a pretty nice combo. A cyclone and b13 can usually keep troops from charging me, so the nyss typically assault in on turn 2 or 3, and the gunmages and b13, then slide up and shoot through them to whatever is left.

I tried running boomhowlers with her, but I got sick of wasting my time trying to position them well enough to keep shooting lanes open. More often than not, I had to shoot them out of the way myself. I also like freeing up 3 points by not having jr in the list. It's the only time I haven't brought him, but I'm starting to like having a list that doesn't rely on him.

[Adept Rahn]

Unfortunately you can't arcane shield the precursors as they
Can't be targeted by spells even your own.
Precursors are a good unit and I use them myself with kara.
Ranked attacks good damage out put.

[xWHITESPEEDx]

If you really want a tarpit unit I would go for the swordknights because they are so cheap and that leaves you plenty of room for all the other things you want.

[djowatts]

Swordknights with AS and Defensive line get them armour 19, throw in Rhupert for tough and you have some lovely annoying scumbags to get in the way!

[Randera]

I would bring ATGM as tarpit units with eCaine course he gives them gunfighter and that should do the trick even tho they are squishy and cost more than average they should be able to let Black 13th and caine kill the incomming.

ohh and if your argument is good armor with AS for using them as tarpit then I think allmost any unit could be used... just a thought

[sleet01]

There are some good existing threads on this subject:

A good tarpit

Need a Tarpit Unit

Good non-Boomhowler tarpit?

[gelfy]

Go boom howlers. There 2 man Cma isnt to bad. and 4 plus tough is boss. so in the end you jam in then just take free stikes to shoot what they are in combat with. there either alive and knocked down or dead and no longer a shooting issue.

[Optimus Bryan]

Have you looked at Press Gangers? As cheap as Sword Knights, Advanced Deploy, Natural Tough, and an (albeit somewhat wonky) RFP option. Throw in First Mate Hawk and they get very good vs. enemy infantry.

They should run every turn when they are not engaged. Get them "Stuck" in melee and the next turn Gang kicks in hardcore. If you add in models with Black Penny (B13, Taryn) or else naturally accurate ones, you can still shoot whoever the are fighting.

I think Boomhowler + Murdoch is the best option, but Press Gangers offer an alternative in the character restricted formats.

[PG_Darkblood]

Trenchers for me. Kara helps them hit things, they can assault, they don't block Los, and are very durable to ranged attacks. I've also had some success with commandos since hell she is dating one.

[LordCommaderCavanaugh]

I have had some really exceptional success using the precursor knights with Kara. Ranked attacks is really nice and when the enemy finally makes it to you a charge with morrows name is a really nice attack to put down on a unit of infantry when in range or an enemy heavy.

I really like the addition of Rhupert to any cygnar list, because he gives: Tough and fearless to any infantry, which is absolutely necessary for any tar pit. The best thing is that the songs plays still affect the precursor knights, which is really nice, but then again I think the sword knights out weigh precursors any old day of the week. Flank, penetrating strikes, and precision strikes really make the sword knights worth taking for the extra damage output that kara does not need to put any extra focus into to make them better. Throw in a Journeyman warcast and you have yourself an ARM 19, tough, and fearless infantry unit that can put down some major damage on a