Spearmen horde an effective choice in 2400 points?

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Rommel44
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Spearmen horde an effective choice in 2400 points?

Post by Rommel44 »

Well mates, after recently starting DE, I had opted to try out a horde of 50x DE Spearmen w/Full Command, Shields instead of the Executioner horde that many DE players (from what I've seen anyways) field due to the fact that it is a lot cheaper to field then the Executioner horde point wise, as well as money wise. So after play testing a few times in a couple of 2400 point games (have a 2400 point tournament coming this September at my store, and I really could some help here mates :D ), and in the unit I fielded either my Lvl.4 w/the sacrificial dagger, the Lifetaker and the Talisman of Endurance w/The Lore of Shadow or A Lvl. 2 w/ The Lore of Dark Magic w/Tome of Furion and The Seal of Ghrond and so far I have been very impressed at what this unit has done, especially when backed up by the Cauldron of Blood (had Killing blow against a horde unit of Temple Guard w/Slann and roled 12x 6 to wound :twisted:). So so far I am a fan of this unit but is this unit too big at this point level? And if anyone has any other advice on what other units I should run with this I would really appreciate it.
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Aveleys
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Post by Aveleys »

I generally use 40 at 2400 points but another 70 points is not a huge deal (assuming they have shields) so I wouldnt worry about it being to many points, unless you feel your army is lacking in a particular way in which case it would be easy to drop 10 for some more points. Definatly give them the warbanner for some more static combat res and probably keep some harpies near by for redirecting since they do pretty well when fighting to the front but when they get flanked the unit falls apart fast.
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Handsome jack
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Post by Handsome jack »

with many armies now playing large deep units to form steadfast tarpits I have started taking a unit of 50 spears in all games over 2000pts. Used with cok or any other hard hitting unit in combo charges it breaks most steadfast units
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Tethlis
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Post by Tethlis »

I don't think it's too big at all. Having a lot of bodies in a spear unit is a useful thing under pretty much all circumstances. I might disagree a little with how you're using it though... In my experience, it's good to be very flexible and dynamic with your unit formation. That being said, sometimes you may want to use the Spearmen 5-wide for maximum rank bonus and Steadfast breaking, and then reform to horde formation if you find you're comfortably winning combat and just want to field more attacks. If you like the idea of a horde formation Dark Elf unit, take Witch Elves! Each Witch is just a little more expensive than a spearmen, but has three times as many attacks, as well as Poison and Stubborn if a Cauldron's nearby. Witch Elves can fulfill a similar role that you've been using your Spearmen for, but are better at it in pretty much every capacity.

After that, the choices are pretty much up to you. A War Hydra tends to be a common choice, since it's so versatile and dangerous for relatively few points. A big block of Cold One Knights has also gained popularity in many lists since they're a hard-hitting and versatile choice with their durability and Strength 6 Attacks when they charge. Ultimately though, virtually everything in our armybook can be effective under the right circumstances. If you tell us what units look appealing to you, or what playstyle you enjoy, we can help provide feedback on good ways to use those units and include them in a list.
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Lord tsunami
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Post by Lord tsunami »

Spear elves are an extremly valuable unit to have and i never leave home without them, but they are NOT a good choice for a horde. The reson is simple: hordes get an extra attack per file. since the spearelves have a weak (or possibly moderate) attack, they do not benefit greatly from this. deploy them 5 wide and very deep instead to negate enemy steadfast.

Yes you can buff them with KB and they become better, but then you would have to compare them to another unit that is also buffed with KB, and warriors will always fall short to other units in that comparison. If you want a really deadly combat unit, use an executioner horde instead ;)

Warriors are our goblins. Cheap and weak. Dont try to use them as elite troops. leave that to the "special" slots ;)
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Minigrift
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Post by Minigrift »

Hi,

I have run spearmen hordes a few times and I like them. They form a solid centre to anchor the rest of your army around, especially if you have a lot of crossbowmen. I put a Sac-Dagger Shadow SS in the unit and keep my BSB nearby, so when they are in combat you can swap the SS for the BSB using Smoke and Mirrors, then the horde becomes a reasonable fighting block. There are a lot of things out there that they are not a match for, but against things with low armour or toughness they can perform extremely well. Especially combined with buffs (Mindrazor) or opponent debuffs like the Withering for example.

They are also quite versatile, as Tethlis has mentioned. You can re-shape the unit to serve specific needs on the battle field. Deep ranks for steadfast, or horde for more attacks, depending on what role you need them for the most. Generally, when fighting horde units like Goblins or Skaven I go horde because I am certain that I will beat these sorts of troops, but when fighting tougher units like Chaos Warriors I'll go with deep ranks for steadfast.

Compared to the Core troops from a lot of other armies, our spearmen are pretty good for only 7 points per model.
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Rommel44
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Post by Rommel44 »

I am trying to stay away from the Executioner horde since there is already another DE player who runs it so I was just trying to things a bit different. 2nd, I was also considering running a 11xCOK unit w/FC, The Banner of Hag Graef, an I will also have the unkillable Dreadlord in this unit. Now would taking the Spearmen horde along with this unit be a bit too much and would I do better by lowering the the spearmen horde into 2x units of 30x w/FC, shields.
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Ichiyo1821
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Post by Ichiyo1821 »

I run that exact setup with my COK and 2 30 man spearelves are better in tandem with that. You only need to last a turn with the Spearmen as the COK will really punch that unit you are up against. The same reasoning can be used if it was the other way around. If your COK didnt break a unit on the turn it charged, the 30 man is enough to grant you atleast +5 SCR (and best at 7 but highly unlikely) even if it loses some bodies as your rank bonus caps at +3 anyway. If your opponent is warmachine heavy, 40+ makes it a too juicy target to focus fire upon and makes it harder to avoid getting hit by templates and terrain. In my opinion, if I were the warmachine army with stonethrowers and mortars and what nots, I'd rather hit one big unit with 2 warmachines and wipe them out rather than hit 2 units and not really taking either out. If he focuses on one unit then atleast you still have your other 30 man.
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Rommel44
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Post by Rommel44 »

Well, I recenty had the good fortune to try out the spearman horde again and needless to sya they did amazing! I ran them as such:

-(49x) Spearmen:
-w/Full Command, Shields, Banner of Murder

And in the unit, I place my Dreadlord, who was running:

*Dreadlord:
-w/GW, P.O.K., Armor of Darkness, Crown of Command

Now this Dreadlord is not only cheap and a pain for any opponent to kill in CC, he gives my Spearmen unit a stubborn LD10, and w/my Cauldron of Blood BSB near by, means that these guys wont go anywhere anytime soon. Not only does this unit become an effective tarpit unit, it is only around 390 points to run it, which I see as a huge bonus compared to an Executioner or Corsair horde, and these guys can do some hurt, especially when backed up by a Lvl. 4 casting the Word of Pain on the unit they are fighting, which served me well verse elite armies such as Warriors of Chaos, Demons and Lizardmen, and even more so when backed up by a Cauldron of Blood.
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