Hit and Run Army - The Byzantine Phalanx Under pMakeda

First, some introduction.

In college, I took a history class on the medieval Byzantine Empire, and wrote a paper on its military strategy and tactics.  One of the documents I read for the paper was a book on strategy by a Byzantine general (though I forget his name).  He outlined a deployment where a large block of combined-arms infantry would be a mobile shelter for Cataphracts, which were Byzantine heavy cavalry.

Essentially, the cataphracts (or kataphractoi, to use the spelling I remember) would charge into the enemy in a wedge, then, when their momentum had come to a halt, would turn around and retreat to the infantry formation, where they could change horses etc. and get ready to charge out again.  The infantry mostly held their ground, and repelled any enemies who came after the retreating cataphracts.

Translating this to Skorne, I had to change a few things up.  First, our Cataphract equivalents are not, sadly, our actual Cataphract units (which are heavy infantry), but rather our Warbeasts, and to a lesser extent, Praetorian Ferox Cavalry.  Second, I want to be able to hit and run effectively with this list.  I'm going for at least one turn of attack and retreat with no meaningful retaliation.  That means I'll have to stick to Warbeasts, since I can't really make whole units of Ferox hit and run without tons of support.

Here's the list:

Archdomina Makeda (+5)
*Molik Karn (11)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Archidon (7)
*Cyclops Shaman (5)
*Aptimus Marketh (3)

10 Praetorian Swordsmen (6)
*Officer and Standard (2)
10 Venator Rievers (9)
*Officer and Standard (2)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)

To hit and run in the same turn, I need movement outside of my normal movement, which is provided by Molik Karn and the Archidon.  Molik's Animus, Fate Walker, allows him (or Makeda) to make a full advance at the end of my turn.  The Archidon's animus, Lightning Strike, allows the target model to make a full advance at the end of its activation provided it destroyed a model with a melee attack.  I also need to be able to retreat a long distance, which Makeda provides with her Savagery spell, granting +5 inches of movement on a full advance.

So the plan for the "cataphract" charge is to cycle Savagery among the Gladiator and/or Archidon for their activations, then onto Molik for his.  This lets me walk (or fly) up to something with any or all of my heavies, tear it a new one, and retreat between 9 and 12 inches.  I'll combine this with a round of shooting from my Venator Rievers unit, who have good range with their Extend Fire ability, and moderate hit-and-run potential with Reform, which gives them a 3" advance at the end of their activation.  The Shaman can join in, advancing, shooting with its Evil Eye, and retreating by duplicating Molik's Fate Walker, if it hasn't used Lightning Strike on something else.

Against opponents with the speed to get to me after that, I'll use the Swordsmen to screen my retreat.  They're quite effective with Makeda's abilities boosting their survival and accuracy, and don't block line of sight for me thanks to their Ranked Attacks ability, so I'll be able to shoot through them with the Venators and Shaman.

Against slower opponents, and depending on scenario, I might get two rounds of hit and run.  Most of the time, though, I'll just get one retreat, and then one alpha strike with my Warbeasts, though my Swordsmen may or may not already be engaged depending on my enemy's speed.

I actually think the list I went with is pretty competitive, but I almost went with a more historically accurate feeling list with a bigger, more powerful infantry block:

Archdomina Makeda (+5) - Army of the Western Reaches Tier 2
*Molik Karn (11)
*Titan Gladiator (8)
*Basilisk Krea (4)

10 Praetorian Karax (6)
10 Praetorian Karax (6)
6 Venator Rievers (5)
*Officer and Standard (2)
6 Venator Rievers (5)
*Officer and Standard (0 - Tier 2 bonus)
Venator Catapult Crew (3)
Venator Catapult Crew (3)
4 Paingiver Beast Handlers (2)

The Karax are shield wall infantry, and are generally considered inferior to Skorne's other attrition infantry, because they're less aggressive.  They are cheap, though, and have Ranked Attacks innately, rather than receiving it from a unit attachment.  Plus the Phalanx part of the list is intended to sit back and provide cover for the hit and run element, so I don't see the Karax's more passive style being too much of an impediment.  Ultimately I think this list would be pretty competitive as well, although I have no real experience running Karax outside of theorymachine.

The main reason I prefer the first list in the end is that all 3 heavies can potentially perform hit and run attacks.  In this list, only Molik can.  The second list does have a slightly better answer to high-def infantry with the catapults, though.  That, and I don't own any Karax or any Catapults, and picking that up will not be cheap.