Shadow warriors for dealing with fanatics?

[Ptolemy]

Hey all,

Looking to get some opinions. I'm going up against an O&G player tomorrow and was wondering about using a unit of 5 Shadow Warriors to deal with the fanatics threat instead of an eagle. I only have the points in my list for one or the other.

I like the idea of perhaps creating a situation where I can deploy the SW within 18 of his Night Goblins, get first turn ( I have Skeinsliver) and march them into a position that forces my opponent to drop the fanatics right in front or in the middle of his lines, all on turn one. And with as crowded as O&G deployment can get, it might be almost impossible for him to put any fanatics directly on the shadow warriors (particularly if there is a wood they can approach from).

I'm just wondering if its not worth the 30 extra points to be able to take advantage of some of the other functions SWs can achieve instead of bringing an eagle that is almost certainly going to be turned into feathery ash when it pulls out the fanatics.

Thoughts?

[geoguswrek]

You'll find that intelligent generals often throw their fantacis away, off the board, if the option is that or putting them between his troops and yours (when you are a shooty army)

[Flame of the Asuryan]

The trick is to send your eagle to areas where his fanatics have to travel through: His own units, buildings, obstacles. Since Eagles have flying and only a 40 mm base, shadow warriors are never able to achieve the same, from experience . Shadow warriors are too map dependant.

[geoguswrek]

he doesn't HAVE to target the unit that draws them out, he can fire them off in any direction..

[Flame of the Asuryan]

I know, but I like my supporting units being recycleable

[geoguswrek]

Don't get me wrong, i prefer eagles to shadow warriors for a myriad reasons, but baiting fanatics is a non issue to me.

[Aethyr]

Yep, me either, I always draw them out with no problems, and even in the cases where they are in the way, my opponent which charge right through them to get to me in true greenskin fashion

[Flame of the Asuryan]

Only trying to say that, in the few times battling the green horde, my eagles performed much better than my shadow warriors in this task

[mike newman]

i use my ellyrion dragon princes to unleash the fantatics, safe in the knowledge the fanatic will die as soon as he hits the terrain before he reaches my princes

[Aderyn]

i like using shadow warriors to draw those fanatics out =) and eagles

[Musashi]

Situational; the O&G player would be inexperienced or a little careless to place his goblin mob where the terrain could prove problematic for his fanatics; they aren't that cheap.

[Pash]

I tend to find they are both situational. In a >2k game I would rather have the extra bolt thrower though. If I see a large amount of Noblins amassing in the middle of the board i'd be quite happy to put my Shadow Warriors right opposite them and march straight at them to draw out the fanatics. The damage the fanatics cause to his own units (or their sacrifice off the board) about makes up for the cost of a 5-man SW unit.

[Aderyn]

as mentioned above, it all comes down to how skilled the O&Gplayer are.

[Ptolemy]

Well, I tried the shadow warriors and it worked marginally well.

There was a wood that was close enough for me to deploy into and march move to his fanatics (he has them in one wide unit of 10x2) and draw them out. One fanatic chewed up 5 of the shadow warriors, the other skittered off and died a round later on a double.

The lone shadow warrior managed to march block for one turn before being picked off by the headbut item.

Given the terrain, eagle would have worked better, as most said. It just would have been a round later. Lesson learned.

[Pash]

You'll find that Shadows Warriors don't perform the same in every battle. They are quite situational so it takes a bit of good tactics to use them effectively every game. Still, if I have the points, I wouldn't hesitate to take them with me

[Aethyr]

Shadow Warriors are great for harassment, be the thorn in the side of the enemy, marchblock, shoot them, tie up a potential charging unit (IE, some boars are about to hit that vital spot that could essentially break your lines, your shadow warriors take one for the team and tie them up giving you breathing space to redress the line to protect yourself).

I used to get really upset with how they would play because I wanted to use them a lot more aggressively, I had to change my way of thinking about them (only str 3? they suck ) and try to use them as the guerillas that they are. That said, if they had 2 handweapons id be a lot more happy. We'll see what 8th brings us.

[SpellArcher]

I had that problem with Dryads in 6th, initially charging them into the flank of ranked units etc..

By the end the unit was just made of win for me, it could do no wrong.

[wamphyri101]

I love my Shadow Warriors, I think they are awesome.

I use mine as ‘counter terrorists’ usually trying to take our enemy scouts/archers/warmachines/fast cav or if you lucky that lone stupid prone mage.

I have also found them great at running circles around Pink Horror and plague bearers, as well as slowing Cavalry and flesh hounds.

I usually use them last in my shooting phase to support either my archer units or bolt throwers.

I find opponents tend to ignore them and go after more meaty point targets in my army.

There main weakness is magic missiles so I tend to keep them out of line of sight wizards if possible

Also they can be good for sneakily running behind an enemy unit to block the way as your chariots/cavalry charge into them.

At the end of the day it depends on your play styles. If your happy to sneak them around and picking your targets then they will do you proud. If you just like getting stuck into combat then they can leave you short handed.

Though great vs anything with low toughness and armour (ace vs ungors trying to sneak into your lines) due to hatred, you will get mauled by heavy armour/toughness

[SpellArcher]

I usually use them last in my shooting phase to support either my archer units or bolt throwers.

I find quite often after doing damage with magic and RBT, enemy units are left one or two wounds away from panicking/annihilation. Then it can often be worth having a go with Archers or light troops even if the target is quite tough.