Guest Article: House Martell – Skyreach Bowmen, by Hits and Crits

Hello Bannermen,

Join us as we take a look at the newest unit for House Martell: the Skyreach Bowmen. 🏹

These fighters are feared in the south of Westeros, where they guard the pass into Dorne in Skyreach fortress. As the first long-range ranged unit for the Dornish faction, these excellent archers rain down chaos and destruction on the ranks of their enemies. Are you as excited as we are? Let’s jump right in!

At a point cost of 6, the Skyreach Bowmen are in line with many other 6-point ranged units, while offering you a strong offensive attack profile (7/6/5), hitting on 3+. This means your opponent has to remove eight (!) bowmen from the field to noticeably weaken their offense. The armor value of 6+ fits their character as light infantry. While their moral value of 6+ is average for a ranged unit, one should pay attention to their exceptional Movement value of 6.

These nimble bowmen are a threat to your opponent from round one. The combination of their movement value, the natural 12-inch shooting range and all the other “movement tricks” that House Martell has in its arsenal, like Tactical Reposition or Cunning Ploy, mean there are few places on the battlefield where you are safe from their hail of arrows.

The Skyreach Bowmen really come into their own when shooting at an enemy unit that has not yet activated. Thanks to their thematic Desert Marksmen rule, they get to re-roll attack dice and inflict a Vulnerable token on enemies who are wandering through the desert unprepared. Fans of the Bolton Cutthroats will know how strong this ability is on a melee unit. Here we have it on a ranged unit! An opponent must therefore carefully consider whether they can risk having an unactivated unit standing idly in the sight of these dreadful archers. Thus, the bowmen have a strong tactical influence on the opponent’s activation order and can force them to activate a unit when they may not have wanted to activate it yet.

The Skyreach Bowmen are expert flankers, prowling the desert dunes in search of unsuspecting prey and then engaging their target when and where they least expect it. However, their Outflank special rule should be used with caution, as their cloth armor and average morale provide only small protection from an opponent’s counter attack. If the bowmen find themselves too far away from friendly units, they may well fall victim to the enemy cavalry or other mobile assets. However, if you manage to position the bowmen well on the flank or even rear of the enemy, they can inflict great damage on the opponent and turn the game in favor of the Martells.

Thanks to the exceptional swiftness of the faction, you can leverage the effect of Outflank more so than other houses – either because you bring in more units to support the flanking maneuver or because your bowmen can quickly get out of harm’s way in case your opponent reacts in time. Either way, an efficient outflank may foil your opponent’s carefully laid battleplan and open opportunities for more Dornish trickery.

Good attachments for the Skyreach Bowmen are Bronn, the Sellsword, or the Spearlord. Both enhance their offensive capabilities thanks to the possibility of more ranged attacks (Bronn) or an even higher attack profile (Spearlord). Which other strong combinations can you come up with?

We are sure there is a lot more to discover with this great addition to the roster of House Martell!

This concludes a first look at the Skyreach Bowmen. They are currenlty available in Europe and will be released in the US soon, enabling new and exciting list concepts for the House from Dorne.

Until next time,
Your Hits and Crits Team