How do you rate the medusa?

[TheGrayMist]

I was thinking of buying a medusa but wanted to hear what others have found in their games? A lot of people say it's really underrated and there is a quick mention in the chaff killing thread. What is the key to using them with success. I mean they charge after anything that come in front of them with Ld2 and Frenzy. What is their use and how are they best 'played' (knowing full well they just charge).

[Haagrum]

They don't "just charge" if kept within 12 inches of the general.

They can be surprisingly effective monster hunters, wizard-killers and chaff destroyers. They won't set the world on fire, but they can also be effective at taking a few wounds off low-Initiative targets that are otherwise hard to hurt with their shooting attack. They can also Stand and Shoot if charged, so you can give opponents a difficult choice - charge and be shot at with armour-ignoring Killing Blow shots, or kill the Medusa with shooting/a charge and potentially leave your units at the mercy of the Dark Elf units behind her.

They are not simple to use. They can be very effective in the right hands.

[Marchosias]

Medusas are definitely fun.

Their best advantage is that it is a relatively manoeuverable chaff with a small base. Dark riders are better most of the time but they do not fit in some spots while the medusa does. Besides, the medusa is the most cost-effective model for suicide-killing mages hidden in units.

Their best documented achievement (experienced by Dalamar) was when a medusa charged a unit of skullcrushers in the flank. The medusa did nothing to them, they did nothing to her (she was T8 at the time), crushers lost, failed their steadfast and were ran down.
On one hand this was very lucky. On the other hand, are you going to stop flesh to stone targetting a lousy medusa? Besides, even stripping the crushers of their frenzy and stalling them for one turn can be worth the 90 points.

I was never impressed by the medusa's shooting. Low range and no skirmish. Most of the time you are going to hit on 5+. Sure, if you get the medusa to a hellcannon she will be insane but she is going to run there for two rounds at least.

As Haagrum mentioned, she is relatively strong against various chaff units and thanks to Avert Your Gaze!, she can even hurt 1+ knights. Sometimes I used her for guarding bolt throwers, with relatively good results.

Ld2 is a pain since once the medusa loses combat she runs. On the other hand, if you have a mobile general it should not be that hard to keep her in the bubble. Especially so if the general is a sorceress who will not run away chasing some important foe most of the time. I rarely had problems with frenzy - you never charge what you can't see. The medusa is vulnerable to march blocks, though.

So in general, they can be useful, even invaluable in some rare cases. But one has to be very careful with them as they are wasted very easily. Do not use them if you want to build a very competitive list quickly as no one (I know of) has had convincing results with them and they are difficult to use. If you are in the mood for experimenting, though, the medusa is very rewarding as she offers a set of unique possibilities and challenges.

[Killerk]

I have never used on as I can't find the points, but Dalamar from this forum uses one. The only time I have seen one in use was in the game I played vs him, fortunate for me one of my RBT's took it down first turn, so can't say if they are good or not. But the main advantage of a chaff unit like that is it has narrow front and it can allocate all its attacks to a model in btb, which is nice for character assassinations, as any other unit could only divert one model to attack a model in the corner, while a solo character would get a challenge. The medusa is not restricted like that. Does it justify spending rare points.... well you have to try to find out.

[Akholrak]

I run one in my Two Towers list. You'll find sometimes they do quite well, others not so much. In a game I played recently against Beastmen, she took out 2 10-man Ungor Raider units, a Wargor, a level 2 Bray-Shaman and two Wounds on a Razorgor Chariot (She was on a warpath), however I played a game two weeks ago and she died to 12 shots from TK archers. She is vulnerable to ranged damage, but in combat, she isn't too bad, and you can sometimes get a lucky Killing Blow. Won't always happen, but great when it does. Her shooting attack, whilst you will need 5+ to hit, can still deal some Wounds to Monsters or high armour/low initiative targets. The most important thing to know is that they are not an easy unit to use, but can be very rewarding.

[Dalamar]

I've used the medusa for about 10+ games leading up to Buckeye Battles. Here are my findings:

1. It's about 15 points overcosted. At 75 points it would be excellent. 40 points more than a great eagle for all the fancy special rules is a bit too much.

2. It's great at clearing chaff trying to block your infantry. With a small base and high vantage point (it can see above infantry) you can position it so it can protect one side of your infantry... while being behind said unit. Remember that you measure distances from closest point to closest point, which in this case would be straight through your unit, but then you charge around your own unit. The trickier part is predicting your opponent movement so you are able to contact the correct facing of the enemy after declaring a charge (managed a charge like that into a flank of a great eagle trying to divert my witch elves at one point)

3. It's a good character hunter but it does have trouble reaching the target if your opponent has any decent shooting. Only managed to successfully complete a character assassination once, against an empire Witch Hunter

4. At W3 and T4 it is surprisingly resilient blocker. I have charged medusa into flanks of units I knew have little chance of killing it in one round just to hold them down. a typical cavalry unit will only have two models fighting it, that's 2 rider and 2 horse attacks. Empire Inner Circle knights would do a total of 0.8 wounds. On average fail one I test. At that point you dealt a wound, they may have dealt a wound. You have charge and flank for a total of 3. They have banner (and likely not a rank anymore since you killed one) and they lose by 1. This exact scenario happened to me once, the knights broke and ran off the board turning a draw into a win for me. (and you don't even need a general nearby... on average it wins combat *before* it gets to do its normal attacks). Against standard empire halberd infantry it will do 1 kill with the gaze, then about 3 wounds with its attacks and a good chance at another from a stomp - total of 5 wounds + flank + charge. Empire hitting back will do a wound on average but also have 3 ranks and a banner for a total of 5 to your 7. More if they either target fails their fear test.

5. ASF and Murderous Prowess. Combined with WS5 this makes the medusa a surprisingly capable close combat model. It suffers in the department of defense (and it should contact as many models as possible for Avert your Gaze) which is why I believe it should be a bit cheaper.

6. Risk factor. I have had my opponents delay a charge because of a medusa. They didn't want to risk one of their precious characters roll a 6 on their I test and die to a KB... which did indeed happen. My medusae's greatest gaze kill was a high elf Archmage.

7. Ranged threat - it may be hitting on 5+ pretty much always (I believe gaze attack should be quick to fire... after all, all she does is look!) but with the right choice of targets it can do some serious damage. Chimeras hate it, especially if you were able to remove their regen first. Imperial Cavalry also isn't very fond of it going through their 1+ armor so easily. Height of the model also means you can put her behind your infantry and shoot away, claiming cover but not granting any to your opponent.

8. And finally - magical attacks. When inherent magical attacks are rather rare, having a set at your disposal is rather useful... even though I never got to fight anything ethereal, I can imagine a medusa in the back lines would keep some hexwraiths at bay.

[TheGrayMist]

I see what you mean about the overcosting.

That's a great breakdown, thanks. Do you usually use her on her own or within general's Ld? It would be challenging to control her to get the flank, or do you just turn her around and wait for a turn?

I do like the complimentary nature of a mobile general backed by a medusa, great suggestion.

Also good to know about the height and not choosing a small model for the task.

I guess the biggest question is around positioning (without the general). What is the trick to it?

[Dalamar]

If you don't have a general handy you have the following options:
Join the medusa with a steed master. It will benefit from his LD9 as well as the fact that half ranged hits will go against the sturdier master. You could even join two pegasus mounted characters to it and have a complete monstrous rank.

Keep general within range. This is accomplished in one of two ways
1. You have the general on foot - the medusa acts as a bodyguard to the general's unit
2. You have a mobile general - the medusa follows the general around.

Make sure anything you don't want to charge is not in medusa's front arc. I've deployed the medusa facing backwards numerous times so it doesnt go off after a cheap vanguarding unit. Though sometimes that's exactky what you want it to do.

[CitizenKhaine]

7. Ranged threat - it may be hitting on 5+ pretty much always (I believe gaze attack should be quick to fire... after all, all she does is look!) but with the right choice of targets it can do some serious damage. Chimeras hate it, especially if you were able to remove their regen first. Imperial Cavalry also isn't very fond of it going through their 1+ armor so easily. Height of the model also means you can put her behind your infantry and shoot away, claiming cover but not granting any to your opponent.

Totally agree with the quick to fire comment, seems silly that it wouldnt be, plus shouldn't be multi-shot -1 - gazing isn't like firing a bow.
I would also like her to be able to fire as part of close combat but that might be asking for too much

[Dalamar]

Technically Avert your Gaze in close combat is just like her firing in close combat . I would like to see it follow the same rules as the shooting attack though... for consistency. Shooting against I but close combat againt T? why the difference?