Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I was talking with my friend and he was telling me that bug infantry blocks are king in WFB. Is this true?
I am looking to start a HE army and was thinking of making my blocks of specials 18, 6*3. Should I up them to 6*4?

Thanks!

10*4 is better.

JSK-Fox wrote:10*4 is better.

That's not necessarily true. I think it's very much troop-type dependent. 10x4 on elites becomes appallingly expensive and can potentially leave a lot of your killing power out of the fight if engaged on a small frontage.

Big blocks have much more potential in the new edition, but aren't necessarily the only answer. You should take a gander at some of the sample army lists, but also realize it's still early in 8th. Folks are still figuring things out, so experiment yourself, and you may discover the new hotness!

RZ

Well, the first thing I'd say is to make the blocks either 5 wide or 10 wide. 6 wide doesn't give you any benefits that I know of. (Feel free to correct me...)

So, 5 wide to make the minimum rank, or 10 wide to give them the Horde ability (an additional rank of attacks). From there, add ranks till you have a desired number. 5 by 4 (20 man blocks) seem like a good start. Going less than that seems iffy, especially for a Close Combat unit.

As a note, Monstorous infantry (which the High Elves have none of, I think...) gain a rank at 3 members and horde at 6 since they have much bigger bases.

Combat reform helps with large regiments. Being able to change frontage from a narrow, 5 wide formation (best for movement and defensive fighting) to a 10 wide (for maximum offensive output) is one of the better additions to the new book.

Having said that, your initial formation depends on the troop type as Red_Zeke said. Expensive elites work better as flankers and support, unless you plan to have an entire army based around something like Phoenix Guard or Khorne WoC or something similar. 10 wide units of cheap troops work wonderfully for dealing serious damage and having staying power - for instance, 60 goblins with spears and command will take 10-15 casualties without batting an eye, costs less than 300 points, and will throw a bucket of dice for return attacks.

For the specials I was thinking of 2 units of phoenix guard to form the core. I was thinking of 6 wide to allow me to get 2 extra swings. I'll try out 5 wide and 4 deep to see how it goes.

In a 2500 game, the standard at mt FLGS, i need to bring 625 of core. Is it better to bring one horde of 10*6 spearmen, or 2 groups of 5*6 spearmen. I was thinking of a BSB in that block with a magic banner and a noble might give it some punch. Since I need to buy them anyway....

What would you all do?
Thanks again

I would argue against 10*6 spearmen. Its just asking to take it in the face, think of all of the hexing/target every model in a unit spells there are and you will understand. Also a mortar that targets the center of the unit will almost never miss and will hit 3/4 of your unit.

I'm still iffy on the horde mentality of 8th. If one guy goes all horde of race X and another guy breaks them into smaller units of the same race, sure that horde will smash any individual unit, but the smaller ones can also get flanks and rears, can attack more units, and are hurt less by enemy spells (but buffed less too).

So I'm waiting for some people to do some mirror matches and watch how it plays out. I think the right situations, small is better and in others, big is best.

flamingwalnut wrote:Well, the first thing I'd say is to make the blocks either 5 wide or 10 wide. 6 wide doesn't give you any benefits that I know of. (Feel free to correct me...)

labmouse42 wrote: I was thinking of 6 wide to allow me to get 2 extra swings.

This is exactly why you would go wider than 5 but not as wide as 10. If you're talking 20 mm bases, you can get 7 to fight against the typical 5 man smaller formations. So with extremely hard hitting troops on 20 mm bases (like swordmasters) then even 7 wide is a reasonable route to consider.

flamingwalnut wrote:Well, the first thing I'd say is to make the blocks either 5 wide or 10 wide. 6 wide doesn't give you any benefits that I know of. (Feel free to correct me...)

...don't mind if I do. 7 wide is a pretty good value. Against enemy units that are 5 wide, you end up fighting against their 10 with your 14. That's pretty significant. Against a horde, you end up fighting against their 27 with your 14, which is nasty, sure, but it's actually better than fighing their 21 with your 10! If you're 5-wide against a horde, they have slightly more than twice as many models fighting as you do. If you go 7 wide, they have slightly fewer than twice as many models in the fight as you do. On any given Sunday, either you're going to win or you're going to lose...but shifting statistics in your favor even slightly will improve your win percentage over the long run.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

labmouse42 wrote:For the specials I was thinking of 2 units of phoenix guard to form the core. I was thinking of 6 wide to allow me to get 2 extra swings. I'll try out 5 wide and 4 deep to see how it goes.

In a 2500 game, the standard at mt FLGS, i need to bring 625 of core. Is it better to bring one horde of 10*6 spearmen, or 2 groups of 5*6 spearmen. I was thinking of a BSB in that block with a magic banner and a noble might give it some punch. Since I need to buy them anyway....

What would you all do?
Thanks again

Take two units of 28 in a 7x4 block. That way, every single model gets to fight, no matter who you're fighting, and you're only a few points short of the core minimum. Take musicians and champions, and you're over the top.

Being steadfast for longer is much more useful than a bunch of weak attacks... All it takes to break your average horde unit is 3-4 ranks of something and then 1 model on the flank adding combat res + kiling guys