Scions of Jutland Overview

 

The Scions of Jutland give you almost total access to the Scandinavian Subfaction, only excluding the flagships. They’re an extremely aggressive subfaction, focused on point blank lightning weaponry and assaulting, though the recent support sprue has added support for long range rocket gameplay.

 

Scions of Jutland by Warcradle Studios

Overall, Scions provide a strong point blank punch and general frontline units. Interestingly, all their cruisers share armament that lets them at least passably cover this role, so even more specialized choices can pull combat duty in a pinch. Otherwise, they can bring a quite strong Colossi, the aerial weapons buff, and uniquely among mercenaries Logistical Support.

Update 3.05: With the addition of the Skaggerak, the fleet got a lot cheaper, and you can also play aerial M1 spam.

Minimum Cost: 400 (Skaggerak + Gefjon Merchantman + 2 Valkyrie Hunt Rotors)

Ability: Draugr. An always on ability for the scions, ignoring emergency is nice for your large cruiser units, and the extra assault support range will make it easier to get a full assault with your Hoths, Gefjons, and Valkyries. But once you hit chaos and disarray, your ship is probably not coming back from that.

Scandinavians also get Wolves of the Sea, letting them use weapons as battle ready when crippled, buffing their assaults, and ignoring the downsides of ramming. This lets your somewhat more fragile ships engage at full power even if they got shot up getting into range, and your opponent has to finish off ships instead of trying to cripple multiples. Very very useful.

Flagship:

• Skagerrak (Update 3.05)

  This is probably going to be the default flagship choice moving forward, since it’s a whole 77 points cheaper than the Skjalden. Damage efficiency is similar, with the Skagerrak being more focused on Point Blank and the Skjalden on Closing.

  But that’s not what I’m here for. 20 Valkyries loaded with angry Vikings ready to do violence is. You’re spending over 1K points here, and probably a similar amount on getting all those Valkyries (I exaggerate, but 1/Sprue is a pain), but I’m going to have to run this at least once.

• Skjalden

  Scions without the Patron only get one flagship option, a unique fusion of the Valhalla and Asgard. Aerial Repair Platform is an interesting buff to have access to as a mercenary choice, but as Mercenaries they can only get limited use from it, since they can only take a single Valkyrie unit. Sultanate is probably the most likely faction to care about this. Otherwise, the ship embodies the Scandinavian ideal of get in close, shoot lightning, and assault. Double Sturmbringer is a hilarious amount of damage at point blank, so getting up close as fast as possible is the priority.

  The singular heavy shock rocket battery is a bit of an issue, since with defences it’s probably going to bounce. Attaching Valkyries with the rocket battery upgrade to compensate seems like a waste, so if you do want to attach them I’d go for more lighting and call it good. Alternatively, the Hoth can also be attached and brings corvette duty for extra defence. The downside here is that you can only take the two valks/hoths, not a full squad if you attach.

Surface Units (1 to 3)

All cruisers come with a front arc Heavy Sturmklaue, Vulnerable Stern, good fray, and a somewhat fragile stat line especially when degraded. They are also fairly cheap in their class, from the 100 point support carrier to the 113 point heavy cruiser. In most cases these should probably be your frontline units, working their way forward under cover and then engaging at point blank, even if their class usually wouldn’t work that way.

• Angrboda Midget Sub Carrier

  Role: Brawler, Skirmisher

  20” range with 5 Dice SRS. If you can make this thing work it’s going to hit extremely hard, but it won’t be easy. I’d keep these as hidden as possible on deployment and turn 1 and dare your opponent to get into range. Since SRS also ignore LoS and don’t have an arc limit, using them to punish submarauder units is also an option.

• Baldur Shock Raider
  

  Role: Skirmisher

  Dedicated rocket boat with an interesting layout (the Heavy Rocket Turret being in the back). If you’re going for a Rocket build these are going to be your heavy hitters, though rocket barrage means you already reroll blanks. Mind you, when building as Mercenaries I’d probably leave these at home and take good aerial units from the primary faction instead. But maybe that’s just a lack of imagination.

• Bogmaor Flak Raider (Update 3.05)

  Role: Brawler, Objective Holder

  The Gefjon now has competition. The Vierling Autocannon is a great weapon system, and being able to take 4 in a unit works out very well. Flak is also great to have, and Anti-Air Specialist means you can broadside aerial units. And as a literal cherry on top, a Freya Array.

  If you are not planning on running a full Gefjon unit, attaching the required singleton here is a great idea.

• Gefjon Merchantman (Required)

  Role: Brawler, Objective Holder

  One of the two possible required surface units, and in my opinion a primary reason to take Scions. Usually Landing Vessel is a tax that makes the unit somewhat bad, but the Gefjon is priced aggressively and its armament and abilities also synergize with the frontline game plan. At the moment this is probably the strongest Landing Vessel choice in any faction.

  If that wasn’t enough, you can take 5 of them in a unit, making the usually anemic cruiser Broadside useful as well. You also get Logistical Support for an extra card, and, if you chose to replace the rocket battery, a Freya Array to make life harder for enemy deep strikers.

  If you’re taking this as a singleton slot filler, I would attach it to another cruiser unit (Since the heavy sturmklaue can’t combine with the flagship’s Sturmbringer). In this case, replacing the Rocket Battery is probably a good idea unless the attached unit is running rockets as well. Otherwise, I’d go for the whole 5 model unit, using them as oversized destroyers.

• Gungnir Raider

Role: Brawler

Sadly this gets completely blown out of the water by the Gefjon. Powerslide is nice, but it doesn’t make up for the extra cost. If you do want another cheap frontline unit these are probably still an ok choice, but that would be after filling up on Gefjons, Bogmaor, Hoths, and probably Valkyries.

• Heimdall Recon Raider

  Role: Support, Brawler

  The aerial buff (Extreme Range and Homing on aerial weapons), as a frontline cruiser. Definitely pricey, but it’s also a strong buff. Scions themselves don’t have too many units that majorly benefit from this (Mainly just the Valkyries and Odins, since the Baldur already has reroll blanks), so you’ll probably want to bring these when pairing with another aerial weapon heavy faction (Egyptians come to mind).

• Hoth Heavy Corvette

  Role: Brawler

  Fast, Hard-Hitting, and Fragile, though with Corvette Duty to partially make up for that. Acceptable Attrition is interesting for getting an activation that doesn’t cost you victory points, but it does put your output below the threshold to reliably cripple a cruiser in one volley. I think I’d go for the whole 6 usually, but there’s no wrong answer here.

  Note that due to Advanced Sturmcoils, their Sturmklaue can’t support the cruiser’s Heavy Sturmklau, so you should probably only attach them to your flagship.

• Jotunn Heavy Raider

  Role: Brawler

  The largest of the frontline cruiser builds, an incredibly cool model. Gameplay wise, it’s more efficient than the Odin and Gungir, especially at closing range. Of course, you’re paying more, so your overall toughness is lower even with the boosted hull.

  Note that since Heavy Sturmklaue are Gunnery, you can use Focused Gunnery to buff that dice pool as well. You can also replace the volt gun battery with a sturmklaue to focus even more on point blank range, though this is only really a major improvement against Battleship class targets (having one very large dice pool generally helps there).

• Loki Shadow Raider

  Role: Brawler, Objective Holder

  I don’t think this quite gets there. Shadow Hunter + Shroud Generator + Teleport 5” is neat, but you’re paying 32 points over the Gefjon for it, for the same damage output. If you want a unit that will be exactly where you need it to be this is it, but I think other ships get to where they need to be just fine, especially frigates.

• Odin Reaver (Required)

  Role: Brawler

  Sharpshooter on all weapons is interesting, but from what my sims are showing it’s not hitting any breakpoints that would make it a great counter to any common target type. Heavy Volt Gun Batteries won’t crack C10 reliably with the buff, and that’s about the weakest common frigate breakpoint, to say nothing of the 24 hits you need for exploding cruisers. Currently you should probably go with the other options, but damn do I want to like this ability.

• Thor Assault Raider

  Role: GET ME CLOSER I WANT TO HIT THEM WITH MY SWORD

  Making this work is going to be difficult, but you are going to have a great time the 1 game out of 10 that it works. Probably a better idea in a Faction Battlefleet with Strategic Reservers, so I can’t recommend this in Scions of Jutland. The Einherjar will cover this role much better.

Submerged Units (0 to 2)

• Einherjar Vitruvian Colossus (Multiple)

  Role: Assassin, Brawler

  A solid submarauder colossi option. Between the valor ram, shooting, and assault, you can expect this to cripple and fully disorder 2 cruisers when coming in from submarauder. It’s also tough, and still fights well at crippled. A singleton will deal well with cruisers, and you do have two slots if you want to be flexible when choosing targets. Taking larger units might be useful if you don’t want to clog your early turn 2 activations, and want to go after heavier targets like fleet carriers. Taking 4 in a unit sounds hilarious, but I don’t think you’d ever want to do that.

  Long version of the summary above: Against a cruiser target, your submarauder ram should do at least 3 damage 70% of the time, and 2 disorder almost certainly (92% for C12, Ram + Voltaic). So you ram two cruisers with the valor effect, and then have the Uber Volt to almost certainly cripple one (and a decent chance of another disorder), and the Heavy Volt Gun Batteries to cripple the other if you’re lucky. Finally, you have a 12 dice assault with devastating and reroll blanks, which should finish a cruiser or at the very least cripple it. Final Tally 2 cruisers at emergency or chaos, with a good chance of them being crippled.

• Fenrir Hunter Submarine

  Role: Sniper, Objective Holder

  Cheap and cheerful fire support submarines. At 30 points per sub the whole unit costs you 180, which is a great deal. This is one of the very few long/extreme choices you can take in this battlefleet (discounting Heimdalls buffing your rockets), and they’re on the cheap end for this type of choice in other orbats too.

Aerial Units (1 to 2)

• Valkyrie Hunt Rotor (Required)

  Role: Brawler, Skirmisher

  Very strong damage dealers at point blank, and at the upper end of M1 toughness as well. While the heavy rocket battery is interesting as a jack of all trades (or ranges) build, I prefer the Heavy Sturmklaue, and the extra cost isn’t doing it any favors. Being Scandinavian, you will also do heavy damage in assault.

  I hope these don’t get hit by the nerf bat coming for the Jaeger, but we should know shortly. No nerfs here, rock on.

List Suggestions

With what you’re required to take, Scions are going to provide a close-in offensive punch whether you want them to or not, and they’ll spend a decent chunk of your points on it. If you’re lacking a solid frontline, this battlefleet will certainly provide. Once Landing Vessel becomes relevant, I also expect the popularity of bringing 5 Gefjon to rise (you heard it here first!).

With the Skagerrak providing a cheaper flagship choice, I think the initial choice comes down to whether you want to bring full Gefjons or attach a singleton to another cruiser unit, primarily the Bogmaor. Valkyries provide a great swiss army knife, so 1-2 full units should be useful.

The Skjalden’s main draw is probably going very minimal, especially on Valkyries, since you can attach the required 2 to it. In that case, I would expect you to be taking Scions for very specific tools.

If you’re looking for toolbox options, the Einherjar is probably the most interesting, as a heavy brawler that will eviscerate a priority target at the top of turn 2. Otherwise, the Heimdall provides a strong buff to aerial weapons.

I don’t think you want to bring a full rocket fleet here. While leaning into it a bit with Rocket Valkyries if you’re bringing Heimdalls isn’t a bad idea, the rocket choices here aren’t exactly playing into the strengths of the Scandinavians. I would bring strong rocket choices in your primary faction (Crown or Egypt come to mind) and keep your opponent from closing with your required slots.

And then there’s Oops all Valkyries

• Skaggerak

• Gefjon (Freya Array)

• Valkyrie Hunt Rotor x5

• Valkyrie Hunt Rotor x5

• Valkyrie Hunt Rotor x5

• Valkyrie Hunt Rotor x5

1156 Points

Yes, you need 20 Scandinavian Support Sprues. Sure, your group might exile you. But it’s probably worth it. Draugr makes your Valkyrie assaults easier without impacting them, and surely something will get close enough to the enemy to really ruin their day. I think this could work with a Daedelus led Enlightened Fleet, or maybe some Commonwealth Stoletovs. You are required to play Ride of the Valkyries while playing this.

 

Closing

Writing this has really piqued my interest in the Scandinavians. I think they do lose quite a bit in the Scions battlefleet, most importantly their cheaper flagship options. With the 3.05 Update, the Skaggerak fixes the main problem I had with the Scions, and also makes Valkyrie spam a terrifying new option.

Let me know if I missed anything, or you have a different way of using some units!

This was written for the Fortune & Glory Release in October/November 2023, and updated for the 3.05 Imperium Orbat release December 2023.