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A question just came to mind when I was rereading the HE codex and the BRB...

The ability "Martial Prowess", which High Elf Spearmen and Lothern Sea Guard have states that so long as they are armed with a Spear, they may "fight with one extra rank to the front only".

Spears (on Foot), grant the special rule "Fight in Extra Rank".

My question is: Do these effects stack?

If "Yes", then HE Spearmen and Sea Guard can in fact fight in TWO (2) ranks on a charge, and in FOUR (4) ranks in any subsequent non-charging round.

Logic being is that Martial Prowess allows them to fight in two ranks on a charge (as the example is given in the entry for Martial Prowess), and in any round where they haven't charged AND are attacking a unit in front of them, they would have the first rank attack, followed by the second ranks normal supporting attacks, then the third rank from the "Fight in Extra Rank" rule granted by having spears, and then a fourth rank, granted by Martial Prowess.

Can someone please confirm this?

They fight with 3 ranks on a charge, 4 ranks in normal combat, and 5 ranks if horded.

You always get supporting attacks. So on the charge thats 2 ranks. Martial prowress states they may fight with 1 more rank than allowed. On a charge they are normally allowed 2, so martial prowress bumps this up to 3.

Wow... You know what, I just forgot about the regular supporting attacks in a charge too.

Thanks a lot!

so... lorthern sea guard. block squads. have 70 of them, 7*10.

shoot in volley, shoot 20+5+3+2+1+1= 32 arrows. stand and shoot = +20. then, biff bam boom, you spear chuck with 50 attacks.

So, if I may do this... [500 pt squad? ]

32 shots out
22 hit
11 wound
6 unsaved.

then.
20 shots out
14 hit
7 wound
4 unsaved.

50 strikes
25 hit
13 wound
7 unsaved wounds.

17 models dead. fun?

You dont halve each successive rank, you get half the ranks shots. So you get a lot more than that...

10x7 Horde formation = 20 Shots + 5 ranks at 5 shots each == 45 Shots.

It's not a very usable formation considering it's points. You fight in 4 ranks normally, so you can field two units of 5x7 for the same points and most get to fight. On the plus side, you gain two steadfast battle buses instead of one. They still need support to win combat against most troops as they either won't kill enough to break steadfast, or will lose combat against hard troops.

Personally, I'm in favor of putting them all into a Horde unit, and just marching them up the board that way.

I've played that unit that way for the past 3 games now, and it didn't disappoint at all. However, it was with Spearmen and not Sea Guard. Personally, I've found the shooting aspects of the game to be relatively weak. Unless my list is made to be mostly "shooty" (I've played 40 Archers with 2 Repeater Bows before as well), the shooting aspect isn't that effective.

If I were to play Sea Guard though, I would use them in similar strategy with my Spearmen. Horde them at 10 across and at least 4 rows back. In the example above, with the Horde being 10 x 7, I would take non-marching movements until I was within charging range, and in the rounds I don't charge, I'd shoot. Sea Guard are very versatile, but at 4 points/model more than Spearmen (and 2 points/model (with Shield) more than Archers), the versatility doesn't come very cheap at all. IMHO, you're better off going mostly shooty or mostly CC.

You cant volley fire if you move, so that would reduce your shooting somewhat.

But don't forget they'll probably be re-rolling their 'to hit' rolls due to ASF and a high initiative.

And, once you dump a 70 man block on the table that's leadership 8, 9 or 10, you might as well take lore of light and hope for the Strength = LD spell.

5 ranks of 10, at S8+ with re-rolls to hit will slaughter... anything (take the +magical attacks item too).

And all of this nonsense is balanced by the enemy slaan getting off a dwellers or a net... or empire showing up with 2 mortars.

-Matt

HawaiiMatt wrote:And, once you dump a 70 man block on the table that's leadership 8, 9 or 10, you might as well take lore of light and hope for the Strength = LD spell.

Lore of Shadow, yes?

Occams razor, shadows. Not light - I wish!

I'm actually more in favor of Lore of Life. With so many attacks, even at Str 3, the sheer quantity that the unit would bring, I think would be more than enough to take out any infantry unit, at least cause a sizable dent in it, forcing it to take a tough Panic Test.

And the reason I like Lore of Life is for Regrowth, really. Also, having Regeneration on the Spearmen block would add a nice cushion against non-Flaming attacks, since the Shield's Ward save is unusable.

I also LOVE giving my HE's Toughness 7. Offensively, HE's are amongst the most powerful. Defensively, however, they're really lacking. Lore of Life helps compensate for that a lot, IMHO.

Too bad the wizard needs to be in the unit to give them regen. Gut magic still pwns life on this one.