Welcome back, fellow Wyrdos!

We’re only days away from the official release of M3E and all of the wonder the release will entail: Will there be any changes from the end of the Open Beta? Will the sleeves you bought for the new cards fit? (You’re looking for 120mm x 70mm, to remove any doubt.) Will we all get confused looking at cards with art again, and not printed Beta files? It seemed fitting to herald this end/beginning with a selection for Monday Model that was used to that sort of job, so we brought the whole team: the Four Horsemen ride!

These models each work very similarly in design but garner very different results on the table based on their styles. We’ll cover what they all have in common first, then break down their differences.

On the front of their cards, the Mechanical, Pale, Hooded, and Dead Riders all share quite a number of things; they’re all Sz 3, 50mm Versatile Enforcers, at cost 11ss with Health 9, Mv 7, Df 6, and Wp 7. They all have Unimpeded to ignore severe terrain, Hard to Wound, and Ruthless to ignore Manipulated and Terrifying. They are also each keyed to one of the four suits in a Fate Deck, as shown in their shared Ability called Chasing Fate and Df trigger Forged In Steel/War/Mystery/Death, respectively, which work together to enable another layer of each Rider’s defenses. Their Forged In Df trigger reduces the damage the Rider suffers by 1 for each instance of their keyed suit in the final duel total.

But how would multiple instances of a suit happen?

Each turn, Chasing Fate gives each Rider a number of Fate tokens equal to the turn number, which the Rider can discard in any amount when declaring triggers to gain an instance of their suit per Fate Token discarded.

Other than the different suits there are two differences on the front of the different Riders’ cards. The first is one of their characteristics. The Pale and Dead Riders are both Undead, while the Hooded Rider is Living, and the Mechanical Rider is, understandably, a Construct. The other is that the Mechanical and Pale Riders both have Gunfighter so they can use their ranged attacks a 1″ melee weapons as well.

The backs of their cards differ a good deal more in the specifics, but the general shape is the same. Each Rider has one stat 6 attack vs Df with a trigger for their keyed suit which increases incrementally for each instance of that suit in the final duel total. They each also have two Tactical actions, both Bonus actions. The first is their Revel action, a 6″ pulse with a stat 6, TN 12 + their suit, which then has a trigger for three, four, and five of their suit as well, each getting more impressive. They all finish up with Ride With Me, a 5″ push which can bring a friendly model within 2″ of the Rider when declared and place them in base contact at the end of the push, all for a 6 of any suit. This action is seen on most mounted models in the game, and makes them incredibly hard to pin down, as well as a great utility taxi service for your crew.

Now to break down their actions’ specific differences: The Mechanical Rider is the most utility support piece of the four, showcasing the Arcanists individualistic nature by adding to their available resources, be they cards, markers, or activations. Her attack is a Chain Spear with either an 8″ projectile or 1″ melee with a 2/4/5 damage spread. The Arcane Ritual allows the Rider to draw cards equal to the number of Tomes in the duel total so long as the target is an enemy. At base, its bonus action Revel In Creation drops a Scheme, Scrap, or Corpse marker anywhere within the 6″ pulse. For three Tomes the Rider can then discard a card to give every friendly model within range the suit of the discarded card to all their final duel totals. One discarded card to guarantee triggers for even one other model is good; if you can fit two or three models in range, even better! For four Tomes, take any number of cards from your discard pile and shuffle them back into your deck! Five Tomes lets you have any non-Master model activate immediately after the Rider’s activation has ended, even if that model has already activated this turn. Of note, there is no range to this last trigger, and as this is a Tactical Action, the reactivating model can be the Mechanical Rider herself.

The Pale Rider is control-based like the Guild’s tyrannical nature, buffing friendly models with healing, condition removal and extra actions, and debuffing enemy models with conditions and damage Its Pneumatic Rifle has a longer 12″ projectile or 1″ melee range with the same 2/4/5 damage track. It’s Final Breath trigger gives the target Staggered as well as +1 Injured for each Ram in the final duel. Revel In Conflict heals all friendlies in the 6″ pulse 1, or 2 if they are engaging an enemy. For three Rams those friendlies also gain Shielded +2 and ends any Injured they currently have. Four Rams allows all friendly models in range to take the Charge action, even if they’re engaged, in any order you desire. Five Rams gives all enemies in range Slow, Burning +1, and a 2/3/4 irreducible damage flip. This is unresisted, so each of these free damage flips will be cheatable straight flips unless the target has Hard to Wound or something similar.

The Hooded Rider exemplifies the Neverborn’s tricksey nature through extra movement, terrain manipulation, and heavy damage. Its Greatsword comes standard with a 2″ melee range, 3/4/5 damage spread, and a positive flip to the damage if the Rider has not charged this turn, which Ride With Me can definitely assist in setting up. The Wide Swing trigger lets you place a blast in base contact with the target for each Mask in the duel total, though these blasts must be within 2″ and Line of Sight from the Rider, forcing it to follow at least some of the laws of physics. Revel In Secrets allows the Rider to look at random card in the opposing player’s hand equal to the number of friendly models in the 6″ pulse. Three Masks let friendly models in range Push up to 3″ in any direction after determining how many friendlies are counted for the number of opposing cards viewed. Four Masks makes the 6″ aura around the Rider hazardous to enemy models. Five Masks allows the Rider to take a melee attack targeting every model in the 6″ pulse, ignoring his melee range, and then place within 2″ of the last model targeted by the free attack. You’ll prefer to not charge the turn you use that one for maximum effect.

The Dead Rider is, well, the Grim Reaper, and showcases this by, you guessed it, killing models and raising some zombies, like any proper Resser. Its Scythe mirrors a Greatsword without the possible positive damage flip. The Reap trigger pushes the Rider 2″ per Crow in the final duel, then places the target in base contact, making it great for grabbing a fast or difficult to reach target where the rest of your crew can reach them. Revel in Death causes enemy models in the 6″ pulse to take one damage and gain +1 Injured. Three Crows lets it take a Scythe attack targeting one model in 6″ and Line of Sight (Important to Note: the Reap trigger cannot be declared off this attack, as actions caused by a trigger cannot declare triggers themselves). Four Crows summons Mindless Zombies into base contact with any Corpse Markers in range and then allows them to activate after the Rider in any order. Five Crows changes the one initial damage from the action to 2/3/4, ignoring Hard to Kill. While this is otherwise reducible as normal, it’s unresisted, so barring Hard to Wound or similar, each model will get a straight, cheatable damage flip as well as the initial Injured +1. Additionally, each kill from this final trigger gains your crew an additional Soulstone!

Overall, the Riders are very worth their cost and offer useful and flavorful options to their factions. Not every crew will take them every time, but each Rider will perform admirably at their roles. At 11 stones already, some might find adding an upgrade to their kit to be making them too expensive, which I tend to agree with not because the upgrades aren’t good, but because the Riders are already a great self-contained package and I keep opting to put upgrades elsewhere. If you find an upgrade combination you find indispensable, I’d love to hear about it!

One final note, all four Riders share the Horseman keyword, which currently no master or henchman has, but I will not be at all surprised if a future version of Leviticus has it–once Wyrd releases different versions of the masters as they’ve stated they are working towards as an alternate to Master upgrades–to allow him to run a list with all the Riders as he could in the past.

What do you think of the Riders? What are you looking most forward to about the official release of M3E? Next week I’ll be back to fill you in on any changes made between the end of the Open Beta and the official release, and then begin examining the keywords and themes of the versatile groups within the different factions.