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I'm at a crossroads when it comes to unit choices, picking between full Nihilators or full Swordsmen with their UA.

My caster in question is Hexeris and trying to decide which would work better come his feat turn. With death march, Nihilators would be MAT 9 and vengeance, the reach works wonders in return strikes and come feat turn because the model is boxed and then turned into a solo, I don't have to worry about berserk hits on friendlies.

With the swordsmen, both the feat and UA mini-feat they can chew through high armor single wound models and turn said enemy into my own weapons of war without relying on praying to the dice gods for good damage rolls.

The downside to Nihilators is the lack of high armor killing power without good rolling, berserk thinning out my own ranks and tough rolls don't help vengeance attacks as the trooper is still unconscious on the ground. But that extra threat range with reach can really help jam up a target and fearless is nothing to ignore.

Swordsmen are great for chopping into jacks and beasts for point plinking damage. But they have small range for melee and if they fail a charge, their entire activation is wasted. Aside the mini feat, they really can't offer giant power hits on medium armor infantry crossing their path where that extra pow comes in handy.

This also now boils down to whether I want to keep his theme army or branch out and go for other options.

Berserk shouldn't trigger on anything except attacks they make
during their combat action.

You cant go wrong with either, both have uses in other armies as well which is really nice. Which do you like the models of more?

I have both, but from a gaming standpoint for building all comer list for a 35 single list tourney upcoming soon trying to figure out which will give me bang for my buck.

For everyday use?

I'll go with Swordsmen.

Praetorian have ARM, CMD (for model placement, not CMD
checks), and access to Perfect Strike and Penetrating Strike.
Unless there's a specific thing you want to do with a unit
that Berserks with Reach, I'd go with the surer thing.

(Ooh and Sidestep)

I like them both, and try to set aside 16 points to use both. But if I don't have that option, I tend to favor Nihilators. Swordsmen are GREAT, don't get me wrong, but Spd6+Vengence+3"charge+reach=awesome. I find that they supplement my beasts very well, as they're just fantastic for ripping through infantry and they don't force me to rely on a trample move to get my beasts where I need them to be. Fearless is also a fantastic touch. And tough.

Quick edit: Also, from the Steam Roller perspective, pMakeda's feat and Savagery make Nihilators (or Swordsmen) even more insane.

I would go for Nihilators too, they are better in taking care of infantry swarms. But as said both units are solid.

Well, without the list, I think it's an easy decision for me.
If you go with theme list, then the swordsmen.
If not go with Nihilators...at least tough can screw around with enemy models that want your souls and offer a real front line for Hexy to keep spelling stuff.