I've played a few games now trying out a unit of 30 RXB. I used a character in there with The Guiding Eye to further boost them. I'm very pleased with the results, but I got to thinking "How should I deploy them? As a horde from the start, or as a 2x15 line and then reform when the enemy is about to charge? What gives the most shooting? And when should I use The Guiding Eye?"
I did what I always do in these situations: Bring out the maths!
There are 4 possible scenarios. I'm assuming that the enemy's infantry is rushing towards my RXB.
1) I deploy as horde and get the first turn. I can then do the following:
- ¤ Move + shoot at long range (40)
¤ Shoot at long range (40)
¤ Shoot at short range (40)
¤ Stand and shoot (40)
2) I deploy in a line and get the first turn. I can then do the following:
- ¤ Move + shoot at long range (60)
¤ Shoot at long range (60)
¤ Reform + shoot at short range (40)
¤ Stand and shoot (40)
3) I deploy as a horde but the enemy gets the first turn. I can then do the following:
- ¤ Shoot at long range (40)
¤ Shoot at short range (40)
¤ Stand and shoot (40)
4) I deploy in a line but don't get the first turn. I can then do the following:
- ¤ Shoot at long range (60)
¤ Reform + shoot at short range (40)
¤ Stand and shoot (40)
I now calculate how many hits I will cause on the enemy during the battle. For those of you who aren't at home in the world of statistics, I can say that this is the important number. Regardless of what T and AS your opponent has, the case that gets the most hits is going to be the best case, since it will cause the most wounds too. The only thing that differs between troops is how many wounds that will be caused, but the relative difference will be the same. I will not bother you with my calculations, so if you don't believe me, just do them yourself. But I do have lots of experience with maths, so don't worry
Note also that I'm involved in a discussion in a different thread about weather you can stack Armour Piercing or not. Conveniently, the answer to that question does NOT affect this result.
Results:
Case 1 (Horde + first turn): I cause 68,94 hits before the enemy reaches me. The Guiding Eye is best used when you are "shooting at close range".
Case 2 (Line + first turn): I cause 75,44 hits before the enemy reaches me. The Guiding Eye is best used when you are "shooting at long range" before I reform.
Case 3 (Horde + enemy goes first): I cause 61,28 hits before the enemy reaches me. The Guiding Eye is best used when you are "shooting at close range".
Case 4 (Line + enemy goes first): I cause 64,44 hits before enemy reaches me. The Guiding Eye is best used when you are "shooting at long range" before you reform.
As you can see, it should be best to deploy your RXB in 15x2 and reform when the enemy gets close. Some interesting things though. If you do NOT have a character with The Guiding Eye in the unit, the same calculations show that if you do not get the first turn, you will cause exactly as many hits if you are deploying in a line as you do with a horde. If you do get the first turn though, you are better off deploying as a line.
If you buff your unit with +1 to hit (Metal spell) nothing changes (well, you do more hits of course), except that in case 1 it is now best to use The Guiding Eye when shooting at long range. As I mentioned before anything that affects the "to wound" roll or any save will not change the relative difference between these cases. naturally you will do less wounds on Chaos Warriors than on Goblins, but the above conclusions still hold true. The only thing that can change them is if the enemy can reach you faster than I anticipated. Cavalry or Trolls Could close the gap faster, thus allowing fewer shots to be fired before reforming. That would favour a horde deployment. It could be wise to deploy your RXBs late in the deployment to make sure they are not right across the table from a huge bunch of smelly Ogres, alternatively to deploy it more than 24 inches away from the enemy deployment zone, giving your an extra round of shooting if the opponent should go first.
The Guiding Eye should in short be used when you can fire as many bolts as possible, with the BEST possible chance to hit. I wasted it when i needed 7s to hit in my first battle and that was silly.
Thanks for reading.