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Hi all.

So im sitting planning on what to buy and how to make my list and have come up with a conundrum, which is what battle line units I will go by. I want 30 of either Ironbreakers och 30 guards, meaning I can split them up into 1 or 3 units depending on the list to make a center unit or protect the flanks. The rest of the army will have outriders, greatswords, Griffon, Steam Tanks, Mages and a Hurricanum aswell as a shooting unit or two. That means I will have to chose between handgunners and crossbowmen of which I have no Idea of what is better in the new Battletome.

I rate Handgunners over Crossbows personally, though it does depend how you envision using them.

Assume they both get their respective abilities for not moving. Handguns are forcing 0.44 saves per model, crossbow 0.67. But handguns have rend. So against a 4+ save the crossbows do .33 wounds per model, and handguns 0.30.

Not much in it right?

So I would use the other factors of the weapons to decide it - range vs stand and shoot. The range on crossbows is significant, but I just love stand and shoot.

Plus there's the long rifle for handguns which does very slightly mitigate the range difference.

 Stux wrote:
I rate Handgunners over Crossbows personally, though it does depend how you envision using them.

Assume they both get their respective abilities for not moving. Handguns are forcing 0.44 saves per model, crossbow 0.67. But handguns have rend. So against a 4+ save the crossbows do .33 wounds per model, and handguns 0.30.

Not much in it right?

So I would use the other factors of the weapons to decide it - range vs stand and shoot. The range on crossbows is significant, but I just love stand and shoot.

Plus there's the long rifle for handguns which does very slightly mitigate the range difference.

Thanks. Does the math factor in that crossbowmen shoot twice? The reason I'm asking is that I do like the Crossbow model a little more than the Handgun. Also If I go with 1 or 2 units of 20 Crossbowmen, do you have any Ideas or tactics I should be thinking about or considering?

Yes, that's with them shooting twice vs the handgunners shooting once but with +1 to hit and -1 to rend.

If you move the unit then handgunners outperform the crossbows as they still get -1 tend. Though of course crossbows still outrange them.

Honestly, it's a matter of preference. The extra range is significant, I just really like stand and shoot.