If you didn’t know yet, GW will release a metal bitzpack containing sling arms for Slaves two weeks after Island of Blood. This made me think whether I should equip the Slave regiment of my upcoming army with them. A draft of the army list can be found here: List.
I know there are some excellent Skaven players among my reader, what do you guys think about Slaves with slings? I haven’t read the 8th edition rule book completely, but from what I learnt Slings don’t have drawbacks in close combat as the Slaves keep their handweapons. Is this correct? Are slings are worthwile upgrade for a mere half point (thus just 12.5 points for a regiment of 25)? Please enlighten me!
PS: The Slaves above aren’t mine but Rushputin’s fromWarpstone Pile. Check out his blog if you like everything Skaven!
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I'm still wrapping a blog post around this (because it started out as a "why I don't like 'Horde' post, but now I'm not quite as sure), but I figured I'd share up the sheet:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=0ApDCiiWtPjyhdEQxcE9yZERtSFVKTFJSVU5GRDQ4MFE&hl=en&output=html
I compare Clanrats/Giant Rats/Slaves/Stormvermin + various equipment loadouts to a couple of different rank-and-file units. Assumptions made are on the first sheet. The second is the number-crunching. The third has the actual results, and the fourth should allow someone to plug in a unit of their own.
If you do a relative point cost to ability you could include clanrats and stormvermin, just to see how they compare together. As to other troops on the board, lizards, high elf spearman and the other basic troops might be good.
Hrm.
My goal with Slaves isn't to win combat, though, it's to whittle down and jam up enemy units. It's such an uphill battle for slaves to win a combat, I can't bring myself to expect them to… I just want them to stick around a while and then explode satisfyingly.
Spears and Horde certainly present Slaves at their most deadly… but it's just not enough.
I've thrown together a Google Spreadsheet that mathhammers all this stuff out. Mathhammer's not everything, but it's still a good foundation on which to build expectations. I've put in Dark Elf Warriors w/ Spears and Chaos Warriors (both units I can expect to see regularly 'round my parts, and representative of better and much better units); is there another unit you'd like me to dump in there before I post it?
Rushputin,
I see the advantage of shields, but what I have been doing is running large blocks (last weekend I ran 2 units of 100 in a 2 day tournament) with spears. They die in droves but still put out enough wounds to sometimes win combats (though usually in the 3rd/4th round). People tend to avoid sending second or third units into only 256 pts (100 spear slaves with full command), which allows them to easily take units. And if they do devote more resources, it makes the job easier for the rest of your army. Just watch out for anti-leadership slanash demons – my only loss so far in 8th and in the tournament.
What Torpored & Rhellion said re: the abysmal BS and lack of return for the points. When 8th came out, I ran slaves with slings and the never, ever came close to delivering.
Slaves neeeeeed shields and a Musician. I've just started giving them a Champion: sure, that Bloodthirster will kill him and the CR will be just as bad, but it'll keep more models in the unit for Steadfast/Cornered Rats.
I've been doing some number-crunching on Spears / Shields / Horde that I need to post at some point… but definitely pass on the Slings.
@Captain Khorne: Gutter Runners are awesome for assassinating incautious characters. They need something to go after once they're done exterminating all the warmachines. 5 of them with Poison and Slings are amazing.
Also, thanks for the shout out!
Thanks to all for pointing me out! I guess I'm going to stick to handweapons then, as from what I've gathered one bitz pack for 6,25 Euro upgrades only 10 models which s a bit too expensive for my taste.
With always wounds on a 6+ its worth having a unit just to kill lone ranger characters you know?
Captain Khorne
I agree with Rhellion. With BS2, you get to base hit on 5s, with double tap thats 6s. 5 wide leaves you with 20 shot on 6s. 7s if you moved, 8s over 9 inches… it adds up really quick. On the other hand, 10 more slaves means you last in combat one more round.
And why metal slings? They have plastics in the night runner sprues. Are they doing somethign new to meld with the new clan rat models?
Instead of buying slings for 20/40 slaves, I would buy 5/10 more Slaves. I would rather be Steadfast for 5 or 10 models longer than kill one or two more models by shooting them with slings.
I don't know much about Skaven, what is the BS of Slaves? Slings are effective historically and in Warhammer Historicals against lightly armed foes. They shoot twice I believe in 8th Edition. Based on the games I've played, generally you're going to get one round of shooting, two at best, before someone crushed the Slaves.
It depends on if this amount of shooting is worth it, also what formation you deploy in. Unlike my Night Goblin Archers I don't think Slings have volley fire so if you deploy five or six wide, you're getting well still 20 shots maybe, but like I said, you'll get 20 shots once then they'll draw the attention of the enemy, which might be what you want anyway…
Cheers,