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I plan on running an right man honor guard with a banner inside a LR in my upcoming list. Now I've become a bit lost on what weapons to give them. I was thinking something like 2 axes and 6 swords. My primary opponents are white scars, orks, BA, and DA. Any thoughts? Would the maul be better than the swords for forcing saves? I mean, assuming I don't lose anyone to over watch, I'll have 40 attacks on the charge.

Mauls cause more saves and have the bonus 'concussive'; the Sword niche is 3+, but that's quite a large niche and you do fight a lot of Power Armour according to that list.

Mauls are the most effective against vehicles, as you have more S6 against the rear armour than with your single Krak grenade.

Thanks for the reply. I guess my real question is would it be better to force a bunch of saves or negate armor? I won't be charging any MCs or terminators with them but would like the axes for insurance if I'm charged. My math hammer skills are pretty poor! I was leaning towards swords but what about against bikes or the like? Sure, I can negate their armor but only half of the attacks will hit and I'll need 5's to wound. With the malus I can cause far more wounds than the swords.

Do you plan on bullying weak units or taking on other HTH units?

Mainly MEQ or below. I plan on also running a group of TH/SS terminators lead by Asterion Moloc which is what I'd put up against enemy HtH units if I can.

People alway forget the power spears...

If you fight to much 3+ saves, and the rest of the people are clearly 5+/6+, them Power Spears can be usefull, why?

I you assaulting from a Land Raider, so it is almost certain you are assaulting, while assaulting with so many attacks, you have S5 and AP3, MEQ will just die like flies...

Following turns, you still have S4 and AP4, great for holding those ork mobs (who would be the only ones to survive. Maybe you should consider Spears them...

Swords are more fluff, Mauls are more power gamer, axes are just point waste (10 more points generally, and you have S8, not 5, i dont know if the 4th attack worth it). Personally, i love power mauls, concussive is great, and S6 just wound so easy ^^

Power Lances are useful in Bike armies where you can hit and run. Other than that you get a decent bonus on the charge and afterwards you're stuck with a generally crappy weapon.

So swords then?

 korghan wrote:
So swords then?

Mauls. You want the opponent to take saves, the additional strength on the mauls is perfect for that. Don't worry about the AP3, the sheer amount of wounds caused will make them keel over. Those that remain will them hit last because of concussive.

Concussive works per model, not per unit. The only ones who would be at Initiative 1 next turn are the dead ones, it's strictly good for multiwound models. Yes, this means a lot of people firing their grav guns and then charging in expecting Ini 1 opponents are doing it wrong, I know.

Versus MEQs S4 AP3 is mathematically strictly superior to S6 AP4.

Totally forgot it was per model and on a wound, I confused it with strikedown.

S4 AP3 is better against all 3+ up to T6, where it's roughly equal to S6 AP4, and edges it again against T7 but is useless against T8+.

In all other situations (2+ or 4+ and worse saves) the Maul is better.

Axes are fine on units as they can remain 'hidden' - the higher initiative weapons move in first, and will die first then the Axe guys move in on I1 and strike. Characters with Axes have to feel lucky, as an opponent with initiative has a shot at killing them before they strike.

With spears, the silly Close Combat rules mean you don't actually want to be better when you charge but better in your opponent's turn (to wipe them) so an inverse spear would be better. This is a massive flaw in the rules though.

Ok that makes sense. I'll probably take two axes for insurance and 6 swords. Thanks guys!

Standard is Mauls and Axes for when you have no idea what your fighting. The idea is because your rolling to hit and rolling to wound. You will notice pretty quickly that even with 40 attacks your only getting 20-ish wounds at Str 4 versus T4. If they are on bikes (White Scars and Orks), your rolling a lot less wounds because the number is higher. Then if they have a invuln and/or FNP (Cybork, Biomancy Libby, ect), they are still getting a roll to survive. You will not be happy when your 40 attacks turns into less than 5 dead guys, on a average roll. Then wait till you roll bad to hit or to wound.

There is a reason why Mauls are turning into the mainstay power weapon. Axes still give you that AP 2, +1 Str and attack versatile units need, because sometimes Terminators/Meganobs go out of their way to attack you after you bullied up some troop choice.

I go relic blades and axes. The +2 str is enough for me to pay the extra points. For a 5 man squad. 3 relic blades 1 axe 1TH

The +2 str is nice, but the cost and losing +1 Attack kills them for me.

Meh the units always make those points back for me. The lost attack can hurt but w/ prescience (really try to get this) its meh. 4 attacks on the charge rather than 5. (With banner). it let's me smack around 3+, armor and tanks.

Relic blades look great but I just don't have the points to spare. The more I look at the math it just seems that even against bikes with a 3+ a sword will perform better than a maul. Yes the maul wounds easier but then the armor save goes through 2/3 of the time. Again, this unit isn't my dedicated CC unit. It won't be going after terminators or other 2+ assault units.

Then go for a mix of swords and mauls.