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I see more anti spell hate , then anti tough hate . more units that ignore spell effects more lists with purification then lists that are run to kill tough.. And if a I add murdoch to the trolls I can have the AS too , if it is so good . Then I have both . And boomies aren't the only units with tough I can get , there are pirates too and they are both cheap and good.

AS is friendly model/unit specific so Boomies can have it cast on them. Deflection which pNemo and eStryker have is Faction Specific so adding Murdoch to them would allow them to get to ARM21.

Makumba wrote:

I see more anti spell hate , then anti tough hate . more units that ignore spell effects more lists with purification then lists that are run to kill tough.. And if a I add murdoch to the trolls I can have the AS too , if it is so good . Then I have both . And boomies aren't the only units with tough I can get , there are pirates too and they are both cheap and good.

So basically, you're saying there are lots of viable options.
Pirates are amazing (is it cygrates, or pirgnar?). need a lot of solos though to get as good as they get- the full death star is doc, bosun, the quartermaster guy, sea dogs, max rifles etc. I agree- they're great, but to get the mist out of them, they cost a packet. Murdoch isn’t free. And you need Junior for the AS (which means it’s not on your stormwall either)
And to be fair, weren’t you dismissing my arguments because “those aren’t common, and they require investment of focus/fury or specific units”? Ironic really, when you are doing exactly the same thing here.
Ironic too that you refer to giving them AS. Weren’t you stating before this gets ignored too easily? And just as you give boomies AS, I can just as easily give sword knights tough via other solos, so there, its a wash. factor in sword knights are more accurate (boomies never stunned me with their abilities to actually kill stuff) and have higher damage output, and you have a very interesting choice to make.
Anti spell hate, (or upkeep hate) is a thing (Kromac is my favourite caster). You have to account for it. Absolutely. Things ignore spells, and buffs. Or stop casting. Or remove spells. But just like teching against upkeep hate (in my case, eKrueger) you have to account for a lot of other things. High def. high arm. Speed. Hordes (the famous DASH). And tough. And as I mentioned, quite a number of popular casters (and not just trolls, as you incorrectly claimed) such as terminus, irusk(s), and extremely popular units – winter guard infantry w/kovnik joe, Banes with the officer UA, hordes units zombified by the witchdoctor etc make extensive use of tough. There is a fairly large amount of tech that exists (and by the way, this is increasing) via units, rules (grevious wounds), spells, and feats to counter tough.
I accept your point Makumba that there are things that deal with spells and buffs. But saying a tough unit such as boomhowlers is better because those things exist is a poor argument, especially when it is easily shown that tough is a thing to worry about, and that folks will tech against it. Everything can be countered in this game. Boomhowlers are an incredibly solid unit- there is a reason you see them in virtually every faction. But they have their limitations, and counters. And those are increasing.

Take boomhowlers because they are a great option. 4+ tough and medium bases is great. no question. arguably, the -2 to attack rolls for jacks/beasts is even better (situationally). But also consider there are alternatives that are equally viable – that’s all I’m saying.

Makumba wrote:

'Friendly faction' carries a lot of weigh for spells and feats.

ecain doesn't care , siege doesn't care , ehaley doesn't care . their spells and feats work of regardless what units are taken . Ecain lists are made mostly out of merc units .

And the likes of Stryker 3?

Makumba wrote:

And as said, sword knights do serious damage fir their points - 4d6 on the charge.

If the target is engaged by a jack . The good thing about SK is that they are cygnars only 4/6 , well cygnarian cygnars only , cygnar can get other cheap scoring or tough units .

Within 3” of a Jack, actually. That leaves a lot of leeway for positioning for a bunch of small based models. It’s not hard to have them swarming about a stormwall, or acting as a counter charge unit (you know, hold them back from the tramples that you claim obliterate them too easily) . for six points it’s a steal. For six points and a decent offensive output. Score. can they be countered? Sure. but they throw one hell of a spanner into the works, and for the investment, in my opinion, they're a solid choice worthy of a lot of consideration.