Summary
Foot troops. Cost 1AP. Move 400p on road, 200p in good going, 200p in bad going. Combat factors are +2 vs foot or Stronghold, +2 vs mounted.
If they lose a close combat they flee.
If they are doubled in combat they are destroyed.
Deploying Lurkers costs PIPs, and they may only appear in the terrain that corresponds to their type i.e. water or bad going. They may never leave that terrain piece until they are destroyed or flee.

Alan Saunders writes:
Lurkers are a strange troop type, as it is the enemy that really dictates whether they can appear on the table or not. It doesn't matter how many lurkers you have; if the enemy avoids bad going then you will never get to use them. If they do go into bad going, however, they can be very useful. Of course, a well constructed plan or deployment can ensure that the enemy enters bad going anyway, allowing you to deploy your lurkers. Even if they do not appear, however, they have a threat potential which is sometimes out of all proportion to their 1AP cost, as the enemy wil tend to avoid any area where they could appear.

Water lurkers are a trickier proposition. They are more powerful than their land-based brethren (all elements get a -2 when fighting them, except other water lurkers!), but have less chance of being deployed as only their owner will ever deploy the water features needed to place them. Even then, the enemy has to enter the water in order for them to deploy. In v2.0 of HOTT water lurkers are quite powerful. *if* you get to defend. make every piece of bad going water of some kind and your lurkers can have a field day. Even elements that like bad going, and usually don't get a -2 when fighting in it, get the penalty if fighting a water lurker. On an entirely aquatic terrain a water lurker can do everything an ordinary lurker can, and more.

Opposing lurkers is just a matter of caution. If you must advance into bad going then make sure each element doing so just pokes a smidgen of its front edge in first. The lurker must deploy in response to this, or miss the chance, but if fighting against your front edge it will probably be overlapped and can't do much worse than recoil you.

Jeff Bolton writes:
The strongest effect of lurkers is on the psychology of your opponent. What I like to do is set out out lurker figure - on the table - simply as "a reminder that it's available." Does it get used? Sometimes. More often, your opponent avoids the terrain in question because they're afraid of the lurker messing up their command and control or - heaven forbid - actually winning. Just to be cruel, I have been known to NOT place my lurker on the table - because I WANT my oppo to enter the terrain in question. (This is particularly true if I am using a water lurker.)

Chow Li writes:
Lurkers are a good way to spend an extra point that's just laying around. Also promotes the use of terrain. Lurkers make good psychological weapons too. As weak as they are people generally fear the unknown. I try to use them with other units, beasts, warbands, or to help not so good units in bad going. They are also fun to spring on an unwitting opponent first turn they set bad in the bad going.

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