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1. Are assassins worth fielding, or do they just take up too many points? I was thinking that if I
   went Assassin heavy all my other characters would have to run bare minimum to save me
   points for the army. It's also not going to be easy as I wanted to run Black Ark Corsairs
   in my list.



2. Is it bad to make a line of Corsairs 10 across in small units as anti-shooting screens? Do
   the sea dragon cloaks hold up under ranged fire? (Other than elevated war machines, of
   course).
   
   

1: assassins are worth it if you have a specific thing in mind for it. Spamming them isn't that great. It hurts your model count, or weakens your hero choices. 1-2 or maybe 3 if you keep them cheap (rune and extra weapon) is great though, it turns your average spear block into a much more powerful unit. To make them work i think you have to go with the cheaper spear men though. The reason being is model count issues.

2. I've run a unit of 14 7 wide before, it gets the most out of the larger number of attacks, and can screen more important things well. The cloak holds up fine vs bows, but vs other DE, handguns, or any s4 and/or armor piercing, the save is barely effective. If they have a decent amount of shooting, and they really want it dead, corsairs aren't going to survive much better than normal guys, esp when you consider the point difference.

Personally I use corsairs as a small unit to support a pair of big spear blocks. When the opponent breaks it lets you have a better than normal chance of catching them. Its also useful for when you need to advance into a gunline. Run them as wide as you can in front of what ever hammer you have, and let them take the shots. If you go corsair heavy, or only corsairs, the points cost will force you towards a more MSU style list. Nothing wrong with that, it just puts more pressure on dice winning combat rather than static res. I guess that MSU acting as assassin delivery might be fun, don't know how it will hold up though.

The plan is to paint up 10 assassin models and line them up beside the army.

Then field two.

Kidding. I'm interested in d3 attacks and manbane as my standard loadout for
two or three assassins (with extra hand weapon). The Corsair models are
cooler, so of course I'll start with them. I'll throw a spearblock in
if I have to.

So by running Corsairs I preclude the use of expensive Special units such
as Black Guard as an anvil?

i love the corasair models aswell, and aren't sure of whether i want to make any spearmen models up (i could have 28 crossbowmen or 16 crossbowmen/12 spears).

assassins are well worth it and are great for popping out of nowwhere and cutting down ranks.

yeah, by taking corsiars you will need an infintry anvil like black guard, though i'm leaning towards excecutioners with an assassin hiding so that i have the assassin attacking first, then my excecutioners to clean up whats left.

I would say that if you go with corsairs and assassins, something has to give points wise, either the magic phase, shooting phase, or the black guard. DE magic and shooting are both great, but if your game plan is smart use of anvils (black guard) and nice Assassin assisted corsairs one or both has to suffer. Or you could just do without cold ones or dark riders that most people seem to take.

I'm willing to leave out shooting and cold one knights.

I'd say that manbane isn't that good, as it leaves you without poison. Just a thought.

Double post

Anybody tried Shadowblade? I've had him murder my hierophant, and it seems like if he drinks his s10 potion he could gack most folks.

If manbane isn't great, then I'm saving 50 points! Fantastic!

Shadow bane is ok.
He will kill one hero (not a guarantee vs lords) then either run away or hang arround hoping nobody shoots him down.