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Hi, all

I'm new to Kings of War and it seems to me that, in some cases, taking a Regiment of a certain unit isn't worth it over taking a Troop of the same unit, provided you've unlocked all the Heroes/Monsters/WMs you want. For example, there's a lot of Regiments which only gain an extra 2 attacks over its Troop counterpart and, although there's usually a decent increase in Nerve as well, it seems to me that you get a lot more damage output for your points by taking mostly Troop choices like this. I also thought a MSU unit approach would work well in getting units in the enemy's flanks for those lovely double attacks.

However, I've not really had many games of KoW, so I wanted to ask more experienced players if, in practice, this really was the case, or whether better Nerve translated into more damage with units sticking around for longer? What are your thoughts?

Thanks in advance

It very much depends on the unit.

The extra Nerve can make a huge difference when you want the unit to stick around, but for missile troops, in particular, a couple of Troops have a bit more flexibility than a single Regiment.

And sometimes you want those cheaper Troops as screens for your harder hitting, higher Nerve, units - better to lose a Troop of weedy Goblins than the unit of Moraxe hiding bravely behind them.

The Auld Grump

Regiments aren't always like this too. Regiments however make far better anchors than troops do.

For example a regiment of mummies is VERY hard to shift compared to a troop.

Troops are better for taking hits or being light hitters compared to regiments.

I will say, and I am guilty of this myself, that a list devoid of cheap-drops/troops is usually a mark of an inexperienced KoW player. While it is doable to go with "all killer, no filler", so much of the game works more successfully with disposable screening units.

The downside of troops, as all have said, is that a single damage forces a nerve test that only needs a hair above average dice rolling to rout. That, in turn, highlights the value of taking some shooting, as even mediocre shooting on-the-cheap can remove troops virtually at will.

Still, units like my Ogre Chariots never worked properly until I screened them with essentially disposable Goblin Scouts. If the Scouts somehow endure the first-strike... great... if not, the unhindered follow-up from Chariots suddenly have serious value against otherwise "better" cavalry.

In short... a handful of troops, shooting or screening, are a very, very good thing, but certainly not what you want to build too much of your army around.

So it's more a question of chaff then?

Regardless of damage output compared with their corresponding regiments, Troop units are good for screening your more valuable units and will help you dictate movement and get the first attack? Then, as such, it's useful to have some missile troops - whose Troop units tend to have more damage output per point than Regiments - to get rid of your opponent's screening Troop units?

 The Shadow wrote:
So it's more a question of chaff then?

Regardless of damage output compared with their corresponding regiments, Troop units are good for screening your more valuable units and will help you dictate movement and get the first attack? Then, as such, it's useful to have some missile troops - whose Troop units tend to have more damage output per point than Regiments - to get rid of your opponent's screening Troop units?

And thus a meta (local or otherwise is born). :-)

Yes, troops of shooters do well vs. other troops... but lack mobility and die immediately to say a troop/regiment of cavalry, etc... etc... etc....

Though dying immediately isnt necessarily bad. If they die, the unit theyd been covering can charge right in. If they survive the charge... your heavy hitter behiund might not be able to get in. You probably know that already, but hey... just something worth pointing out.

NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:

 The Shadow wrote:
So it's more a question of chaff then?

Regardless of damage output compared with their corresponding regiments, Troop units are good for screening your more valuable units and will help you dictate movement and get the first attack? Then, as such, it's useful to have some missile troops - whose Troop units tend to have more damage output per point than Regiments - to get rid of your opponent's screening Troop units?

And thus a meta (local or otherwise is born). :-)

Yes, troops of shooters do well vs. other troops... but lack mobility and die immediately to say a troop/regiment of cavalry, etc... etc... etc....

Which is pretty true to history.

Heck, some archers didn't survive contact with their own side's cavalry.... (They were in the way of a charge....)

The Auld Grump - Strangely enough, they lost the battle.

Having a few more points of nerve can make more of a difference than it looks at first glance due to the way the nerve tests work.

Since nerve test is rolled on 2D6, the likelyhood of a unit being routed increase dramatically when the results required for example drops from 11 to 7 or eight.

It's also easier to keep one regiment in range of inspring rather than two troops.

If you cause 6 damage to regiment with a nerve of 16 it's not likely to be affected. Instead cause 3 damage each to two troops with a nerve of 12 and they start to be in danger of routing.

Of course as said; in some situations it's actually beneficial for small units to vanish completely in order to open up space for units behind them but it all depends on the specific situation.

Tyr13 wrote:Though dying immediately isnt necessarily bad. If they die, the unit theyd been covering can charge right in. If they survive the charge... your heavy hitter behiund might not be able to get in. You probably know that already, but hey... just something worth pointing out.

Very true. And since overrun in KoW is only D6" (iirc), I imagine it's, in some ways, easier to set up counter charges that in WHFB, where overrun is 2D6".

Zywus wrote:Having a few more points of nerve can make more of a difference than it looks at first glance due to the way the nerve tests work.

Since nerve test is rolled on 2D6, the likelyhood of a unit being routed increase dramatically when the results required for example drops from 11 to 7 or eight.

It's also easier to keep one regiment in range of inspring rather than two troops.

Yeah good point about the 2D6 actually. As an aside, I do tend to load up quite heavily on Inspiring heroes and, I usually add the Inspiring magic item to one of my heroes without it (such as a mage), if I have any

 The Shadow wrote:

Very true. And since overrun in KoW is only D6" (iirc), I imagine it's, in some ways, easier to set up counter charges that in WHFB, where overrun is 2D6".

Not only is it shorter, but in KoW you cant overrun into a new combat (apart from when you rout an individual).

 Zywus wrote:

 The Shadow wrote:

Very true. And since overrun in KoW is only D6" (iirc), I imagine it's, in some ways, easier to set up counter charges that in WHFB, where overrun is 2D6".

Not only is it shorter, but in KoW you cant overrun into a new combat (apart from when you rout an individual).

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I guess that helps too