Sunday, August 30, 2009

Hammer Units - Size Matters?

So I got in a game with my roommate today and after losing three TH/SS Terminators to small arms fire (and another one in CC before , I got to thinking - how big should the "hammer" unit of an army be?

The larger the unit, the more costly (duh), but you also retain a lot more bite even with a few casualties (while in say a 5 man unit of Terminators or 4 man Seer Council, losing one or two of them HURTS).

What's your opinions?

On a side note - I finished painting my first Terminator yesterday and am working on basing it today. As soon as I get my camera back from the shop (this weekend) I'll throw up some pics.

4 comments:

  1. Depends on the hammer unit.

    How exactly are you using the Terminators?

    If you're delivering them via Land Raider Crusader, then it's fine to keep 'em to the minimal 5.

    Are you walking them? I'd probably roll more than 5, or just cave, grab 10, Shrike, and infiltrate them.

    With a Seer Council, I think 7-8 is a minimum. They need to be able to survive gunfire even with Fortune up.

    A 4-man seer council can't do enough damage or take enough fire to matter, and just wastes points.

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  2. The Terminators ride forward in Land Raider Redeemer, although I am considering giving the Crusader a run, seeing as how I rarely find myself within flamer range.

    I hate the idea of deep-striking Assault Terminators since I have to 1) Wait until I come in and 2) After they come in, wait haplessly until I can get into assault.

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  3. I preferred the Crusader for just that reason.

    Sure, that S6 AP3 flamer burns stuff alive, but you also have to get up close and are aboslutely GOING to drive straight into melta range like whoa.

    The Crusader has a bit more standoff range, and isn't totally reliant on point-blank to do damage. I mean, at the least if it's immobilized, it's a bunker. The Redeemer...is like a T-rex with broken legs. It's not going to reach out and touch a blessed thing.

    I think Deep-striking the termies is...eh. They're now a 200pt threat. If they're close, well...good. If not, the dice screw you, and that's sad.

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  4. Hammerunits are a real all or nothing thing. It depends on the unit though. Orkbikernobz start working from 6 models on- Seercouncil at 8 and Assaultterminators at about 7.
    Don't go there half-hearted. If this unit dies before accomplishing it's mission- it's a lost game anyway.

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