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Should I equip my wolfrider fast cavalry with spears or bows? I like the 360 degree firing arc that they can have with the bows, but i just don't see 5 or 6 S3 shots doing all that much. I've thinking of giving one unit bows just for diversity, is this a good idea?

I'd go with spears but it depends on how you plan to use them. Personally I'd be using wolf riders to threaten flanks or counter fast cav. In both cases I'd rather have the extra str on the charge to help them do a little extra damage.

Spears are more usefull, but you could give a unit spears and bows..
If you have some points left

i would give them spears and give your spider riders the bows

Goblin shooting + always moving + str 3 means your bows will do just about nothing.

Spears, however, are great to have.

As people have said, bows don't mean anything on the wolves. You have BS3, but you'll be moving, and your bows will likely be beyond half range to maintain your ability to march. So you're hitting on 6s. Oh, and for good measure, S3 bows--just ask the HE--are no good. They wound T3 half the time, and T4 1/3 the time, and all the while provide absolutely no armor piercing capability.

Spears also give you that little bit of extra heft you might need when charging a war machine crew or some such. The jump from S3 to S4 is huge. You'll also be hitting on at least 4s and at worst 5s in combat.

Spears are definitely the choice.

I've never as a rule found ranged weapons to be much use on fast cavalry. The models can look nice with bows though, so don't be afraid to give one unit bows if you already have another with spears. Don't expect them to do very much battlefield-wise though.

5 or 6 bows might kill one guy and who knows might force a panic test. 5 or 6 spears might kill one or two extra guys when you are already killing one or two guys anyway.

I'd probably go with the one unit for diversity. It seems like army lists can always use all the diversity they can get.

Tacobake wrote:5 or 6 bows might kill one guy and who knows might force a panic test. 5 or 6 spears might kill one or two extra guys when you are already killing one or two guys anyway.

No way. 5 or 6 bows that are constantly moving at long range are going to hit on a 6. If you have 6, that's one S3 hit per turn. If you have 5, that's less than one S3 hit per turn. Even against T3, that's, even with 6 models, 3 casualties all game, and that assumes they have no armor. And these casualties will likely be spaced as opposed to in a clump. Even assuming you can find a unit of cheap, unarmored models, you still need to knock out 25%. It's unlikely you're going to kill more than a single model in a given turn. So we're talking about a unit of 4 models. Units of 4 T3 models are already worthless. And even if you do somehow manage to force the unit to test for panic, they still have to fail the Ld test. Even at Ld 7, that's only a 39% chance of panic. Less than 1 in 2.

The numbers for panic just aren't there.

Now, spears actually mean something. Against T3 and WS3-WS4, 6 goblins with HWs will do 1.5 wounds. With spears, they're doing 2 wounds. That's an increase of 33%. Once we start going against T4, like Dwarves or armor, like, well, most everyone but Empire war machine crews, the spears are even better. Against T4 and a 6+, like a Dwarven war machine crew, 6 goblins with HWs will do .83 wounds. 6 spears will do 1.5 wounds, an increase of 81%. Against T3 and a 5+, 5 HWs yields 1 wound. Spears yield 1.67 wounds, an increase of 67%. I could go on. As the armor save increases, the percentage increase in wounds isn't as high, but against those lightly armored guys the wolves are likely to charge (if they charge at all), the S4 goes a long way. An extra wound that translates into an extra point of combat resolution is important to a unit without ranks or a standard.

Why is the change between S4 and S3 so great? Because the increase to S4 modifies two different rolls: to wound and to save. You go from a -0 save modifier to a -1 save modifier while simultaneously increasing your ability to wound T3 by 33% and T4 by 50%.

Don't get me wrong. Your wolves might not charge every game. They can be sacrificed to direct a charge into nowhere land or might spend the entire game march blocking or fleeing from yet another charge. But when they do charge a small, light unit, such as a war machine crew or a small unit of skirmishers, the spears should give the goblins the extra weight they need to break the unit. Although bows might do 3 casualties all game assuming the opponent has no armor save, they aren't going to cause a panic test, and against some armies, they'll do absolutely nothing.

Take the spears and leave the shortbows at home.

Wood Elves

I never had concerns about moving and shooting...

bigchris1313 wrote:The numbers for panic just aren't there.

Spears.

Ignore me.

Why is there no delete post button...