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(Disclaimer: AOS newbie.)

I have built two five-man units of Liberators (hammer & shield unit and double hammer unit) and I just got an another box. I am wondering whether to make a third small unit or to expand one of the existing units. MSU allows more primes, which albeit a small benefit, is still a benefit. I'm kinda failing to see the benefit of the bigger units though... What am I missing here?

 Crimson wrote:
(Disclaimer: AOS newbie.)

I have built two five-man units of Liberators (hammer & shield unit and double hammer unit) and I just got an another box. I am wondering whether to make a third small unit or to expand one of the existing units. MSU allows more primes, which albeit a small benefit, is still a benefit. I'm kinda failing to see the benefit of the bigger units though... What am I missing here?

Activations. Let's think of this:

case a) You have 3 units of five men.

Case b) You have a ten man unit.

In case A the enemy will have two activations for his unit in meelee. That means he'll attack twice, which will wound off your stormcast units. In case B he'll only have one before you finish your job and in an activation you'll get to do more damage. all while needing to roll one time less for battleshock (2 times versus 3). Furthermore there's buffs that focus on a single unit, so you want the bigger unit to further the benefit. Say, for example, that you get a +1 to hit bonus on a single unit. You'll net more attacks on the ten man squad.

Then there's the fact that objectives work on body count, not unit count. So you want big units to secure objectives. Also, if a unit has 10+ models, it adds one bravery (and 2+ if it has 20+`). THis is usueless for stormcasts but useful for other armies.

In truth the benefit of MSU is very low.As a rule of thumb, most armies benefit from fielding bigger units with a few exceptions such as orruk brutes.

Thank you! The activation was certainly the thing I was missing, and the buffs are a good point too.

The objective thing doesn't matter though, as it is immaterial whether I have one ten-man unit or two five-man units on the objective.