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Trying to make my OnG army into a Greenskinz/Bonesplitterz one. Some units like boyz have chopas, that give -1 rend. Others (boar boyz) have pigstikkas for a 2" range. But what is generaly better? I woun't redo the units I allready have, but for future units there is a tough decision - get a -1 Rend for dealing with armour or get a 2" range for more attacks. Any advice one this?

The consideration is how many models will get spear attacks that would not have gotten choppa attacks. Spears mean the second 'rank' can swing as opposed to sitting idle with choppas, but only if the unit is large enough to even have a second rank. Unless you are running large units of boar Boyz (10+) the choppas will almost always be better (and they already have no-rend attacks from the boars so the choppas helps them vs things the boars have trouble damaging). For foot units I'd say at 30+ go with spears, otherwise choppas.

Ninth said everything I was gonna. :-)

Yeah, sorry to just join in the chorus but essentially the decision point is around how you run the units. If you run large units then the additional range will normally give more attacks, but with smaller units the better quality attacks win out.

One thing to note is that Orruk Boyz get +1 attack at 20 models, so units of 30 - 40 are not uncommon. At this unit size I would probably lean (like Ninthmusketeer says) towards using the spears.

It is not so much about how big a unit is. It is about how many models you can bring to bear, as many units can attack the same target.

Small units and range can be good, even more if those small units are ones you'd like to protect more whilst the enemy kills cheap crap (like grots).

You can pile in if you are within 3" of the enemy. You can move 3" if you pile in, so long as you can get into range you can attack. It doesn't matter that you have some chaff units in between you and the enemy. So your units with longer range can with some setup, and understanding of turn/attack order, come in behind a line of chaff and attack, whilst the shorter range of the enemy may force them to just hit the chaff. Easier to do defensively, as the enemy attacks you and brings himself into 3" of your second line.

Range is also more useful in any place where there will be (or you want) limited models fighting, this might mean where terrain creates a choke point. Or it may be that you want to hit the end of an enemy unit but make it hard for him to counter-attack with stuff from further away as they have an extra 1" to cover to a lot of your models. Equally if the enemy has two units it can potentially mean you can stay at a longer range attacking one and prevent his second unit from being within 3" and piling in you. All these can allow you to gain a limited local advantage.

Rend is good, and nearly always useful. On the other hand range is also good, but often requires some thought to make use of and is more situational.

puree wrote:
It is not so much about how big a unit is. It is about how many models you can bring to bear, as many units can attack the same target.

Small units and range can be good, even more if those small units are ones you'd like to protect more whilst the enemy kills cheap crap (like grots).

You can pile in if you are within 3" of the enemy. You can move 3" if you pile in, so long as you can get into range you can attack. It doesn't matter that you have some chaff units in between you and the enemy. So your units with longer range can with some setup, and understanding of turn/attack order, come in behind a line of chaff and attack, whilst the shorter range of the enemy may force them to just hit the chaff. Easier to do defensively, as the enemy attacks you and brings himself into 3" of your second line.

Range is also more useful in any place where there will be (or you want) limited models fighting, this might mean where terrain creates a choke point. Or it may be that you want to hit the end of an enemy unit but make it hard for him to counter-attack with stuff from further away as they have an extra 1" to cover to a lot of your models. Equally if the enemy has two units it can potentially mean you can stay at a longer range attacking one and prevent his second unit from being within 3" and piling in you. All these can allow you to gain a limited local advantage.

Rend is good, and nearly always useful. On the other hand range is also good, but often requires some thought to make use of and is more situational.

Good post, and I agree that range has a number of potential uses so it is not a simple rend = good, range = bad.

Rending is pretty good to have but range depends on the model size, how they're posed and the unit size. If you have a bunch of guys with their weapons a bit forward it'd be more easy to get within that 1" range as they could interlock basically, making the rend a better deal in that case.

It's more that rend = almost always good, reach = sometimes good. But even then its more complicated because of how they each work in a given context. The reality is though, that for a unit of Orc Boyz at 30+ spears will on average be better, and for 20- choppas will on average be better. Pile in/melee range tactics are nice with the longer reach but its very specific when that would actually be superior to just having better attacks (aside from a unit-size context). I know that when I am fighting an enemy with reach the best possible thing they could do for me is stay 2" away because that gives me so much control when it comes to piling in vs them getting base-to-base so I can't move. Even if there's an enemy behind the front unit that will be pulled into 3" but that its often better than letting that unit move to a flank then charge and wrap around on the subsequent turn. Nasty characters and monsters are the only things I see that people avoid pulling into combat with any regularity.