Everblight: Thoughts on Units, Part 1

Admittedly, the Legion of Everblight is not exactly long on support for infantry. Most casters have about, oh, one spell that can target models/units as opposed to just warbeasts. Most animi in the legion are single-model, and it's not exactly efficient to hand those out to a unit...

However, I still find myself looking for an infantry unit in most builds. Mostly, they're meant as a distraction from the beasts, though some of them (like Striders and Raptors) can do some fine damage in their own right.

I've run several of them and own a handful of them, and feel that they're at least worth a look.

Striders

Striders are the sniper infantry. They're angry Nyss with bows, pathfinder, and a hankering for putting arrows into enemy infantry. A half-dozen puts you out 6 points, and with the Officer/Musician attachment, you're looking at a 9pt outlay.

Pros

A full 9pt investment gets you 8 guys that have a 12" command range (thanks to the musician). SPD6, Pathfinder, and Advance Deploy (combined with a 3" regroup move from the UA) makes them very mobile and very able to get there. RAT6 is average, but you can pair up with Combined Ranged Attack for RAT8 POW12s. The UA also lets them ignore forests/concealement/cover, and in a pinch the Musician has Take Up.

Cons

DEF 15 is nice; Stealth is more fun, but ARM11 means you still die to blast damage like whoa. They're also crap in melee, with a mighty sword and crap MAT. You CAN use them in melee as a tarpit with DEF15, but there are counters for high DEF.

Overall

9 points get you a mobile half-dozen Nyss with bows. If you want your unit to help KO ranged targets, this is what you want. They die to AoEs, but can spread out with the UA. Even without the UA, it's still a solid unit. I find they work well with the Lylyths; Parasite helps them take down infantry units and eLylyth's feat + Pin Cushion make 'em nasty. They also have the Stealth to synergize with eLylyth's Shadow Pack. I suppose eThagrosh's +2ARM spell helps against AoEs, but ARM13 is still AoE bait.

Ogrun Warmongers

Do you like big, crazy guys with pointy sticks and a penchant for bloodshed? Then, yeah, these guys are for you. 8 points get you 5 of these 8-wound maniacs.

Pros

For medium-based 8-wound infantry, they're reasonably spry. SPD5 and Reach give them a decent threat range; DEF 12 isn't much but ARM16 is reasonably solid. They have a MAT 7, PS14 death-stick and berserk, so the enemy has room to worry about what happens if they get into infantry. In a pinch, you can probably do some damage on a charge to light beasts/jacks. Finally, as medium bases, they'll block Tramples, which is never a bad thing.

Cons

Berserk is probably the first drawback people think of; if they run out of things to poke they'll probably poke each other, what with Reach and all. If you want to get around this, you can run a Chieftain solo for another 3; this makes the package 8/11 depending on unit size. On the other hand, the Chieftain can buff their attacks and let them stop berserking to heal d3 and RFP living stuff. Hey, everyone gets hungry... Also, SPD5 is not THAT fast.

Overall

Anyone that can buff either the accuracy or durability of these guys is what you want. So far, I've run them with eThagrosh for his +2ARM spell; 8 wounds on ARM18 is rough for infantry. They're reasonably costly, but they require a concerted effort to remove and provide a solid screen. Other downside? The cost; those medium-based metal units can be a bit to acquire.

Blighted Swordsmen

It's a MAT7 maniacal weaponmaster with a good defense and so-so armor. Mostly, it's a weaponmaster; anyone that's ever been charged by Weaponmasters has seen a stupidly damaging roll come up at least once and remembers it vividly.

Pros

Mostly, it's the fact they're MAT7 weaponmasters. SPD 6 is ok, but without reach you have a so-so threat range. DEF 14 is just above average, and with the UA you can up your lethality (as he grants you a 1" move and the ability to make another attack if you kill something) while the Champion can scare people with the prospect of a PS15 Weaponmaster Combo-Strike of Death.

Cons

No reach. ARM13 is only so-so against blasts. While there's a lot of damage-dealing potential, they don't necessarily have the damage stats and strike range to do the damage you really want to see them do.

Overall

Swordsmen promise a lot of damage potential, that's for sure. On the downside, everyone knows this, and unlike other notable weaponmasters (IE: Bane Thralls) they're not as easy to deliver into the fray. pThagrosh can up their defense with Fog of War, but that leaves them open to blasts. eThagrosh can put them up to ARM15, which helps against AoEs. Absylonia's one of those that can buff their MAT situationally. Basically, Swordsmen want help to get there, or to at least make sure they draw plenty of attention. They're not quite my favorite infantry unit.

End, Part One

In the name of not throwing up a critical-hit wall o' text, I'm going to end with the ones I've run. I've got a unit of Legionnaries on the way as a cheaper tarpit, and I also own some Raptors. Given their point cost, though, I've not yet run 'em, and I've kinda not painted them...but I do want to, just because they're stupidly dangerous.