Spears or Rxbs?

How to beat those cowardly High Elves?

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Blackrainey
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Spears or Rxbs?

Post by Blackrainey »

I have just purchased my first two warrior boxs for my army.
Should I split them into 20 spear and 12 Rxbs. Or half and half?

Which will cause the most damage on the field?
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Tundrik
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Post by Tundrik »

If it was me i would build them 20 and 12 as its a good start to both. But it will depend on how you want to play or feel you are going to want to play. For example if you want a fast elire force with some support then RXB are great, or if you want some blocks of spears to help your magic phase by sacrificing some with the sacrificial dagger then spearmen are great.

Hope this helps
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Tethlis
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Post by Tethlis »

Both are excellent. I think that 20 is too small for spears, and that 25 is really the minimum, but 30+ is ideal. However, crossbows can be fielded in units of 10-20 as their ideal size.

I myself run two units of 30 Spearmen and one unit of 20 crossbowmen in my 2500 point list.

To determine which you should start out with, it would help if you post the rest of your list, or at least what other units you're interested in collecting, or what kind of playstyle you prefer. As Tundrik mentioned, Spearmen and Crossbowmen are great for accomplishing pretty different goals.
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Blackrainey
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Post by Blackrainey »

I think ill have mostly Rxbs.

I've currently got CoK and planning to covert some dark riders from glade guard riders.
I also hope to get some witch elves or corsairs soon.
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Post by Olderplayer »

RXBs are superior to spears due to the effectiveness of shooting and their parry save with a shield. I only use one unit of spears and that unit is typically without shields and used for Look Out Sir for my lvl 4 and as sac dagger fodder for her. If I can go shadow and cast Okkam's razor on them, they will do a lot of damage and they can hold for a turn, but I find that I need RXBs to take on light units (especially fast cav, light infantry and medium cav) and cut down opposing units for my better units (COKs, Witches, hydras) to take on and finish.
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Blackrainey
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Post by Blackrainey »

olderplayer how many spearmen does your unit have?

I think its decided then, majority of Rxbs.
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Post by Dm crew »

Rxbs of course.
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Tethlis
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Post by Tethlis »

DM Crew wrote:Rxbs of course.


Rxb will certainly cause more damage, so if that's all your looking for, then crossbowmen are the way to go.

However, spearmen have a very valuable role as practically our only unit that can enjoy the benefits of Steadfast against most opponents. My spear regiments are perfect for letting me quickly break through big enemy regiments, or for tying up dangerous opponents while the rest of my army finishes off weaker threats.
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Post by Olderplayer »

In our area, 2500 points is the default standard for both casual play and at all the Indy GTs I play in. In a campaign, the base points are 2500 with ability to buy up to 2750 points.

If I use the sac dagger on a lvl 4, then and only then do I run a spearman unit. I run one unit of spears from as little as 15 to 19 (light unit mainly to baby-sit my lvl 4 with sac dagger used one to two times per tunr witha one dice attempt at power of darkness spell and when i just fall short with my lvl 4) when I have a lvl 2 as well as a lvl 4 to 29 (use the sac dagger more when I don't have a second caster and the unit is able to be steadfast and do some damage if mindrazor spell gets off or I manage to hex the opponent unit's WS, S, or T using shadow lore). I almost never pay for shields, given that the sac dagger, the absence of a parry save, and the types of shooting and magic casualties the unit takes makes shields of marginal value and/or not worth paying for in most cases (unless I know I'll be seeing skaven slave and clanrats). I typically give my spearmen unit the standard of discipline which, with the lvl 4, reduces the risk of panic (warmachines and spells often target the spearmen in mid to late game in an attempt to get at the lvl 4 and/or panic the unit). Also, I almost always run a COB nearby, sometimes as the BSB, and can use its blessing to give KB, +1 attack, or ward save as needed.

I never run less than two units of RXBs and each is at least 12 models in two ranks. I find that the RXBs can cut a tougher or larger unit down enough with shooting that the spearman can do some late cleanup. Often one of the RXBs units will get charged and killed or lose a panic check and flee off thte board after a direct hit by a war machine or extended shooting.

Because I run one or two hydras and a COK block with ASF and a stubborn dreadlord, usually the toughest enemy units never get to my spearmen. I also sometimes cut down the size of the COK ASF unit, run the dreadlord on a peg and run a decent size to horde (25 to 30) witch elves unit blessed with the cauldron.
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Greenwhy
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Post by Greenwhy »

Personally I use a unit of 30ish spearman as a cheap anvil unit and another unit of 19 to babysit a level 4 with SacDag.

I think 12 and 20 is the perfect way to start your dark elf army, that's exactly what I did. If you plan on playing Dark elves at 2000+ points I would recommend working towards buying a few more boxes of warriors.

Personally I've bought 5 for a total of 80 models. I usually run them in the following units:
12 RCBs
12 RCBs
19 warriors (bunker)
35 warriors (secondary anvil)

This leaves me with 2 spare models which helps when adapting the list.
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Philipbright
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Post by Philipbright »

I say 32 spears without shield and full command... it is 207 pts! This is a great fighting unit since it is so cheap and it have number and if you add more warriors and use units like Chariots or hydra to dual charge you can beat really nasty units quite nasty units!

I love my 30 blocks of spears I have used the successfully since 7th ed!
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