Ulthuan

So I've just started HE, I have 20 or so SM. I was wondering is it better to bring one unit of 20 or two at 10?

I understand that the two smaller units are more likely to die and thus give up VP, but also two units basically doubles the amount of attacks they can put out.

I was just wondering what some of your experiences have been. Thanks in advance.

I've tried 20 and 14 never 10 so i'm not sure.

14 is nice it seems to work well for me.

With 20 the unit is very vulnerable to template weapons. I think the size of unit to run depends on how you back it up.

A life mage would indicate bigger units and they give 1 target for T buffing and less chance of losing them all before you can regrowth.

A heavy shooting list with strong anti warmachines would indicate smaller units to spread the limited CC punch of the army.

10 is pretty weak and it would be tough for them to reach the enemy with a few shots made at them; however, any amount that reach the enemy can devastate. I had only THREE swordmasters get charged once by DoC and every hit was a wound killing 7 of 10 enemies. Oh, and they didn't even hit me and then routed.

It is a tricky question and I really think that it's a case where both options work. Personally I go with the larger unit. (13, 15, or 17 with the BSB.) This allows me to concentrate my defence of them and it also means they have enough bodies not to be wiped off the board by something as pathetic as one round of Glade Rider shooting. The BSB in the unit (whilst he is reasonably vulnerable there and will draw even more fire onto the unit) allows you to guarantee that they re-roll the inevitable shooting related panic test on Ld 9. I think the consensus is that MSU are best done in even smaller units than 10. 7 seems to be reasonably popular. This allows you to get almost three rather than two, massively powerful and easily overlooked units zipping round and killing huge amounts of anything they touch. (Before inevitably being killed by the somewhat cheesed-off survivors.)

Whatever numbers you choose to get them in, make sure you deploy wide and thin. If you're going over two ranks you should really consider just getting another unit. Certainly never more than three ranks. This also allows you to maximise your attacks as well as protecting you from the worst of template damage and to some extent, cannons and bolt throwers.

Finally, also remember that you only need one rank of them to get into combat. There are countless tales of bare handfuls of badly damaged Swordmasters staggering through the last of the missile fire into combat only to make mincemeat out of whatever full strength elite (*previously thought 'elite') units were lined up to meet them.

Elstrith

I usually go for the 7x2, but if I know that the enemy haven't got any shooting (Vampires) I field as many 5x2 as possible as they can kill whole units of Skeletons and Zombies on their own.

Hi all, has anyone tried swordmasters at minimum unit size, multiple units? My thought is to take advantage of the multiple duplicate units rule having 4+ small units using them to draw fire/magic from the army proper and to cap that damage at 5 models per volley/spell (75pts - not too painful).

starfury wrote:So I've just started HE, I have 20 or so SM. I was wondering is it better to bring one unit of 20 or two at 10?

I understand that the two smaller units are more likely to die and thus give up VP, but also two units basically doubles the amount of attacks they can put out.

I was just wondering what some of your experiences have been. Thanks in advance.

They're fantastic as once they get into combat but they'll attract enemy fire like a big fire attracting thing.

However, they could be useful for keeping your enemys attention...

In some circumstances, it might be a question of psyching out your opponent, large enough not to get wiped out, small enough not to look like a juicy target and deployed not to seem like an immediate threat.

As said, I'd go with the 10's if you're not investing any points into defending them.

Otherwise I'd go with 20 and run it with a Life or High Archmage (or possibly a Loremaster).

I usually take a block of 19, supported by a BSB and the Everqueen, and run them 7x3. I find the Everqueen and BotWD make them hard as nails, and lets their blades do what it does best against the enemy.

I take a unit of 20 full command with a lvl 2 high magic with pendant of 4+ works very well most of the time.

Greetings!

The size of the units often depends on the rest of the army and the role you want them to play in a particular set up. I use Swordmasters in MSU army. Before the new book I used 2-3 units, 8-12 strong with musicians and bladelords. With the new book I have 2 units 10-12 strong with musicians and bladelords.

Cheers!

Has anyone else noticed this thread has been resurrected from over three years ago by what appears to be a spambot?

Good catch. I have now. And the user no longer exists... Thanks for that.

Rod

Chracian wrote:Has anyone else noticed this thread has been resurrected from over three years ago by what appears to be a spambot?

Lol, it was me that passed that post!



I was wondering why there was a post by Eldria there...

I have been running 2 units of 6 with champions to some success, leave em on rear guard near my rbt's and archers. they are really effective chaff

I recently used a unit of 38 of them packed with BotWD and my two characters (Loremaster and Sea Helm Bsb) and I must say they performed marvelously.

I had also one unit of 38 White Lions with Razor Standard.

Both Units had a great performance and after trying this build and comparing it to past sizes I had tried, I came to the conclusion that apart from an msu approach (which aims on whole different playstyle) this is the best build. Why?

Because in these numbers they can take punishment and still be powerful, but also because they ALL FIGHT as long as the enemy has enough frontage. We are talking here about many many attacks that will create a huge body count. In my opinion this is the only way for us to get our elite infantry troops to be as dangerous as they once were.

I know we are talking about a lot of points here (in my case it helps that we are currently playing with 3000pts in my guild) but it will be money well spent.