NinthMusketeer wrote:From a min-max perspective on Fyreslayers, your basic infantry (vulkites) are meh, unless you take them at maximum unit size where they are pretty strong due to their size-scaling benefit. You'll want bladed slingshields since when you charge you get to roll a dice for every dude as long as the charge is successful (even if only 1 guy out of the unit is in melee range).
Your elite infantry (hearthguards) are alright. Remember to always take the 'option' of having throwing axes, the auric hearthguard can even throw axes the same round they shoot magmapikes (and at a different target if needed).
Battlesmith is among the most undercosted models in the game. At 2000 points two of them is auto-take, at 1000-1500 one is probably fine. Runefathers & runesons on foot are fine for their points but so outshined by other foot characters there's no point in taking them. Runemaster is the same deal but you'll want one if you're running Lords of the Lodge. Runesmiters on foot are awesome for reasons you seem to be aware of already, and grimwraths are also pretty good for their points.
Now to what's the really strong part of Fyreslayers; magmadroths. Fyreslayers used to have overcosted infantry and appropriately costed 'droths, which naturally led to them underperforming as a faction overall. Rather than do things intelligently
GW decided to blanket reduce costs on everything, which means your magmadroths are now cheaper than they should be. A min-maxing fyreslayer army will want to take the maximum allotment of behemoths because of this, with half of them being runesmiters due to them being the cheapest way to get a 'droth, the re-roll wounds ability, and the 1/game that essentially makes your whole army re-roll wounds (note that with two of them this means two whole rounds of your army re-rolling all wounds).
So in short:
Average: Runefathers & runesons on foot, runemasters, hearthguards, vulkites in sizes less than 30.
Strong: Runesmiters on foot, grimwraths, 30-man vulkites.
OP: Magmadroths, Battlesmiths