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Under what conditions would you take a Power Lance over the other power weapon options?

If you had deluded thyself into running rough riders one on the sarge might not be that bad

I'd take them on a unit with hit and run.

Black Knight Huntmaster

When you have a model that looks cooler with a lance, because mechanically I don't think there's ever a situation where they are worth it.

They wouldn't be too bad on bikes or any other fast/tough unit.

The problem with power lances is they excel at wiping out the enemy unit in one turn. Generally you want to stay in assault till you opponents turn and wipe the enemy unit out then. That way you're not subjected to a full turn of abuse from your opponent.

When you expect to leave the enemy unable to effectively retaliate after one round of attacks, basically. This usually means attaching it to a powerful and mobile close combat unit which can pick it's targets but doesn't have significant staying power.

Unfortunately, I can think of approximately zero units which can have power lances, meet those criteria and are worth fielding.

Well, Shining Spears are one unit, but they get their own, more powerful version of that.

You 'could' give the Exarch a power lance....

The Dire Avengers are actually a good example - their exarch looks amazing with a lance. Not a big loss, so I usually just go with it.

The Dark Eldar Succubus. She is obscenely cheap for her stat-line of Ws 8, I8 A4 and i always pack her with a Power Lance. On the charge that is 6 attacks at strength 4(GASP!) AP 3, which may not sound amazing, but it truly is. The best part is with help from combat drugs and furious charge, she is essentially striking with the stat-line of a Daemon Prince on the charge. The power lance is by far the best choice on her, because she should always be charging and the majority of your damage should be done on that turn, and the added strength is just dandy!

Dark eldar harlequin troop master: 5 str5 ap3 attacks on the charge for 38 pts.

TerraFirst! wrote:
Dark eldar harlequin troop master: 5 str5 ap3 attacks on the charge for 38 pts.

That actually is pretty good.

I use Eldar power Lances as power axes because they look cool

I have seen it suggested for twc, it gives the ap3 necessary to break a pa unit on first turn and the str buff makes it so you wound on 2+ nad not 3+.

Hit and Run Eldar/DEldar are the only ones who can make a lance worthwhile.

Even then, mauls are generally better.

White scars can use them well in a few situations.


Veteran serg's who arent using combi-gravs should have em.

White scars honor guard should have them instead of mauls.

Not that im saying this is particularly good, because lets face it, sanguinary guard aren't, but if you give SG power lance glaive encarmines, and have the standard and a priest in there, each one gets 4 st6 ap3 attacks on the charge rerolling one 'to hit' each. Dante thrown in gives them OS and hit and run.
Waste of points really.

Poly Ranger wrote:
Not that im saying this is particularly good, because lets face it, sanguinary guard aren't, but if you give SG power lance glaive encarmines, and have the standard and a priest in there, each one gets 4 st6 ap3 attacks on the charge rerolling one 'to hit' each. Dante thrown in gives them OS and hit and run.
Waste of points really.

Can't get lance. You're options are sword or axe, as per the glaive FAQ.
If you had the full options, I'd go with 2 fists and 3 mauls.
-Matt

Ahhh damn I forgot about the faq.

Why am I saying damn? I would never take lances anyway lol.

I hear they do pretty well on death company. WS5 S6 5 attacks doesn't sound so bad.

I know this should be in the rules-forum but how would people change them to make them on par with other power weapons?

I could maybe see them give 1 S(user) AP(2) hammer of wrath attack and then step back to even S(user) AP(4), thoughts?

SlyasR wrote:
I know this should be in the rules-forum but how would people change them to make them on par with other power weapons?

I could maybe see them give 1 S(user) AP(2) hammer of wrath attack and then step back to even S(user) AP(4), thoughts?

Hammer of wrath auto hits...there's a reason only the Stone Crusher gets AP2 HoW.

To put it on par it could simply increase initiative by 1 as well in that first round. It's all about burst damage.

Not sure how I would make them good, but I sure hope they'll turn great one day, seeing as how I have a ton of lances and spears left from my fantasy knights.

Actually I love them. They can look cool and can be quite effective.
With my Blood Angel Honor Guard and gave one to my Champion for Turn one Challenges and he winds on turn one vs. MEQs or less.

My Thunderwolf Calvary has 3 of them right now giving me a lot of S6 AP3 Rending Attacks on the Charge, My Wolf Lord with one is just brutal.

I would not call them great and can be situational, but they are always a surprise for those who do not realize what they can do.

What would make them Perfect would be is if the just gave I+1

 pizzaguardian wrote:
I have seen it suggested for twc, it gives the ap3 necessary to break a pa unit on first turn and the str buff makes it so you wound on 2+ nad not 3+.

This actually sounds pretty dope.

In my current set-up, one of them has a frost axe and two others have a power sword out of a unit of six. If I were to replace all three's weapons with lances, I'd get 15 strength 7 AP3 attacks on the charge, good enough to cripple most MEQ units as well as most vehicles, which is especially important, in exchange for AP2. But I still 30 rending attacks to deal with AP2, so.

Hmm... worth experimenting with.

If you were gonna buff power lances in any way without making them OP you would make it so that they confer the +1 strength and AP3 bonus during the first round of any combat, whether they charge, or get charged.


I really do like them on white scars bike tactical sergeants though. A whole unit of them is usually overkill or useless currently, but on a single model with 4 attacks it can give you a decent advantage in smaller assaults.

If I were to design lances, I'd probably make their stat line something like:

Standard Profile
Strength: User, AP5

Charging Profile
Strength: +2, AP3, +1 Initiative

So, you'd just make them flat out better than Eldar laser lances?

Not that I'm against that - maybe it would finally cause GW to reevaluate Shining Spears. Or any of the melee aspect warriors. I mean, scorpions are the only ones that work as intended.

 ductvader wrote:

SlyasR wrote:
I know this should be in the rules-forum but how would people change them to make them on par with other power weapons?

I could maybe see them give 1 S(user) AP(2) hammer of wrath attack and then step back to even S(user) AP(4), thoughts?

Hammer of wrath auto hits...there's a reason only the Stone Crusher gets AP2 HoW.

To put it on par it could simply increase initiative by 1 as well in that first round. It's all about burst damage.

yes I withdrawl my statement, +1 initiative ontop of stats is both fluff an would make them on par

Main reason I dont take lances is there is not a bit for them on top of being very situational. A maul is better most of the time, and when a maul isnt better a sword is better. If it gave +1 init on the charge it would be worth taking.