At 25, I've run the following:
Bloody B
-Wrastler
-Spitter
-Snapper
5-strong Gatorman Posse
Croak Hunter
I ran up against the following:
pStryker
-Ironclad
-Lancer
Gun Mages
-Officer
-Marshalled Charger
Squire
Gorman
Strangeways
I ended up winning; I was worried as my initial engagement with his jacks did precious little damage, and the turn I didn't have Iron Flesh on the posse was the turn I lost a few. We both had some 'bleh' dice, though mine rebounded in the end and I managed to pull it out, or more like I managed to kill his stuff that could boost. Grandpa Turtle beat Stryker within 2 boxes of death, and then the Snapper finished him off. I lost the bulk of the posse, but managed to deliver the Wrastler into his Ironclad while the posse worked the Lancer over.
Thoughts on the List
Barnabas and Order of Activation
Oh, this is very much a learning curve. He's usually the first to activate, as you're going to want swamp pits (either to slow the other guy down, or deny shooting) or you'll be using your feat as setup/denial.
This means you'll be going without Iron Flesh for a turn, as you're going to do the setup (and you'd have to drop IF off your posse) with Barnabas, thus giving the other guy a chance to hit your DEF12-13 gators. I mean, Barnabas can walk up and mug something with his axe to put it up, but at that point I'd be doing it on myself.
Since he IS activating first, you'll want to leave him space to move it on up. I made the mistake of bricking up off the bat, then realized Barnabas would want to move up and put Swamp Pits in useful places.
I also think that the threat of putting jacks into shallow water is overestimated by the opponent. Can you do it? Of course. However, Swamp Pit's stipulations about not going over bases (and being completely within his control area) mean you'll have to be close, and you probably want a throw target in there (IE: a feralgeist, or something). I think what gets people all worked up is the notion that you theoretically COULD render a jack inert; that's one hell of a setback as they're not getting use out of it for a couple of turns (gotta reactivate it, then gotta get it back into the fight).
The Wrastler
'Rise' is hilarious against folks that have knockdown spells like Stryker's Earthquake. It IS very nice to be able to have infantry 'shake effect' (especially when you wanted that charge...) and it'll let you have more fury on your beasts for the killin'. That aside, I'm often a bit cautious with this guy, as I need him to crack heavy armor.
The Spitter
Come on. You NEED a bloody ranged attack in this army. In a pinch, he can do melee, though MAT5 is kinda limiting. As others have noted, AoEs on a warbeast are friggin' sweet, as I can boost damage rolls at will. Grandpa* gets honorable mention during Stryker's feat turn; he had a wonderful shot lined up against gun mages (HA! I don't care about your ARM, you gonna MELT!)...which he promptly whiffed. It proceeded to scatter onto Stryker, Strangeways and the Squire. My opponent and I were both amused. This would've been cooler if it weren't feat turn, but Corrosion is Corrosion.
The Snapper
This guy was more an animus-bot than anything else. Spiny Growth on high-ARM/high-DEF targets is very nice; this is something I knew. It's also very beneficial on heavies, because I can't afford to take/run that many of them.
The Posse
Iron Flesh + Dirge of Mists = STUPID TOUGH, especially with an elevation bonus. PS13 attacks aren't bad against infantry and the occasional light warjack, but now I understand people's concerns about killing heavy armor with gators: you're gonna need a Wrastler or Parasite. Against infantry? Come on. Re-rolling attack rolls, MAT7, multiple attacks? Yeah, I think they've got this. Reach and medium bases make them a pain to bypass, and of course ARM16, 8 hit boxes, and Unyielding just sweeten the pot.
The Croak Hunter
This guy didn't do much aside from draw fire. Gorman walked over to distract him (which is valuable in and of itself) as the Hunter was jogging off to the side, taking a wide flanking path. Comically, Gorman and the Hunter spent the entire game whiffing at each other; when you need an 8 to hit and you have only one swing and you can't boost, well...yeah. It was the slap-fight of the game. Gorman managed to land one hit, but his PS6-7ish pointy object isn't that scary against ARM14 with hit boxes.
Overall
A shooty-heavy army versus Barnabas is admittedly a rough matchup, though I was still worried about his feat turn and heavy hitters. I got a bit lucky on the dice in the middle. I also chucked the posse up there to jam up his jacks, and I think that ended up being prudent as I was able to move the Wrastler into position to KO the Ironclad. Once it and the Lancer went down, it was all over but the crying, as gun mages won't take a couple of Gatormen and a couple fresh heavies. I've only used Barnabas himself in melee once, and that was against a Legion warpack (ate a shredder, got some Iron Flesh) in the battle box part.
And the next decision: do I want to switch 'locks, or keep rocking Barnabas? My Calaban is mostly painted, and Maelok is almost fully assembled.
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