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I say crap; don’t understand the hype they have. From personal experience and from watching battles (both irl and yt) the die horrible on the first turn if even someone looks angry at them. I’ve read on multiple sites and forums that they excel at warmachine hunters etc. The only thing they excel at afaik is dying horrible and wasting 75-80 points a unit. The only way I’ve kept them alive is when I’ve haven’t used them aggressively and used them to flank charge units.
Perhaps I’m just bad, but my core nowadays is back to pure archers…

They are one of the most valuable units in the HE book. Sure they are easy to kill but that's not the point. Reavers aren't there to do damage, they are there to redirect enemy units and generally get in the way of the enemy. Also, remember if they re killing Reavers they aren't killing something more important.

You can tell a good player by how they use units like Reavers or Dire Wolves or Sabre Tusks. They are simply invaluable in game.

They are good. Don't take them to kill stuff unless you are going after other chaff units.

They are expensive points wise compared to say giant rats (23 points) but that's like the best chaff unit in the game.
Then again sometimes there isn't always a use for them especially if you are playing really defensive with tons of archers and stuff. For me when I play with my friends high elves I always bring at least 1 unit of them.

Just use them as chaff units and you'll realize their worth

I had a really good game with my chaos against empire last night. I have 2 units of Wolves in my 1500 pt list i used, one got gak turn one then spent the rest of the game slowly fleeing. The other unit though hounded a unit of outriders for the rest of the game so they only got 1 turn of shooting ( the one against the other wolves)

2 of them though managed to hit the outriders in the flank and break and charge the unit down.

That was a bonus just keeping the outriders from shooting is all i needed them to do.

Its the same with Reavers - they are not intended to cause damage but to be a nuisance. Fast cav has to be got rid off if you play with war machines, but by shooting them allows your more elite units to get to their destination facing less shots

Readers are the best thing in the book. Enough for myself, and others to take 600 points of them at 2400.

From using them in the past, I would say their a pretty valuable unit for misdirection and flanking. Hope this helps

Ellyrian Reavers are phenomenal.

I second everybody... they are really good.

They are great for being a pain in the arse to slower armies.

Thanks
Austin

They are incredible. I just played in Da Boyz GT and they recked my opponents line but never letting them charge properly. Very important for the army.

Thanks for all the reply's..

Well perhaps its just me then My main opponent is a dwarf/empire player that does gunlines quite often. As soon as he gets a LoS of them he blasts them away with his organ gun or thunderers.

Well dwarves they are not necessarily good vs. They excel vs. combat armies such as ogres. Great for ruining their charges. Of course they get shot to death. Maybe don't use them vs those opponents. In a tournament I would every time.

This isn't a matter of "are Reavers good". The OP really seems to be asking if chaff is good.
The answer, of course, is a resounding YES.

Cheap, mobile units can block charge lanes to your main blocks, threaten war machines, delay your opponent's advance with march blocking and fleeing from charges.
And, if your chaff units are Reavers or, gods forbid, Dark Riders, they can reliably take out enemy chaff. Dark Riders are the best chaff in the game. Fast, decent in combat and at range, and still somehow fairly tough. Reavers are a close second.

You can't win a game using only units like this; controlling the movement phase is all well and dandy, but you need to actually be able to kill stuff, too.
That said, without the careful application of chaff, your opponent will most likely control the movement phase. Which means a futile and frustrating game for you.

Even against gunlines, I'd say they rock. If my opponent castles up, I'll either (a) run my chaff out in front, forcing them to shoot those units up while my main forces march behind, (b) hold my chaff back until I can punch a hole in their line, and then send them through the gap, or (c) a bit of both).

As a fairly new player with only a few games under my belt I must say I actually really like the Reavers. While they always die within the first couple of rounds, so far that has proven to be enough for me to be able to get my opponents' warmachines out of the way, and that alone makes them great I think. I haven't even thought to use them as shields for my stronger units yet - gonna have to try that tomorrow.