8th Ed. Are Spears on Saurus worth it?

Hey there,

This post is a kind of side point to the first army list I have posted. Unless I'm missing something there seems very little point in taking Spears for my Saurus units.

By taking Spears I forgo the 6+ Ward Save that they would normally get and in any standard size unit (for my size games at least) I will only gain and an extra 5 or 6 attacks depending on units of 25 or 30. Against the high WS armies I usually play (HE and DE mainly) those extra 5 or 6 attacks are likely to convert into little real damage. The spears are an added cost also and maybe the points would be better spent elsewhere.

If spears are used in a horde unit do they fight in 3 or 4 ranks (assuming they didnt charge)?

Thanks

 

answer on the topic, sim-ply no!

why? because Saurus already have atk 2 they dont need another rank attacking for the price of losing 1 atk.
youll have the same amount of attacks, same ranks but they are cheaper with weapon and shield.

 

I was on the understanding that models making supporting attacks only get to make 1 attack each. Is that right?

So if we use a unit of 30 basic Saurus as an example in 5 ranks 6 models wide. A unit with Hand Weapon and Shield would get 18 (12 attacks front rank, 6 from second) but benefit from the 6+ Ward Save.

The same unit with Spears would get 24 attacks, (12 from front rank, 12 from second and third ranks) but lose the Ward Save. 6 extra attacks that may turn into 1 casualty (2 if lucky) at the added expense doesnt really seem worth it as they will die a little more quickly.

I'm a newbie to forums so if I'm making a mess of it or going over old ground I apologise.

 

Back in 7th edition, spears were a clearly better choice. Now in 8th, the debate is reopened. The general consensus around here is that it now comes down to personal preference. Spear Saurus make a better defensive unit. They are slightly more expensive and will get extra attacks if they receive a charge or in the 2nd and subsequent rounds of close combat. The HW Saurus allow you to be a little more aggressive. You aren't paying for a mostly defensive weapon and you get a nice 6+ Parry save against close combat attacks. Also, a lot of us consider the HW Saurus to look badass .

As you can see, both units have their use. I personally like to have one unit of each and play with them differently.

By the way, welcome to the forums and don't be afraid to ask questions!

 

Consider also that horde units of spears (10 wide) get an extra rank of attacks,
so 40 spear saurus have to potential of doing 50 attacks...
20 from the front,
10 from suport rank,
10 from spear rank,
10 from horde rank.
Now that a lot of damage.

 

Agreed, but you'll need to find another horde of 25mm based units in order to get all those attacks. It's also a very expensive unit (480+ pts) that will be hard to move around the battlefield. In theory though, it does sound pretty nasty .

 

that IS a lot of pnts for a saurus unit,

Saurus are always a good choice because the enemy WILL underastimate them,
but spending so many points for 50 atks on creatures with so less movement?
before your in combat it will probably be 2nd/3th turn and your lucky if you may charge first (and reach it!)
I prefer groups of 10-20 instead of 40 xD

 

The horde rules don't work well for our army at all, it's made for spear elves and marauders.

However, I like having spears on my Saurus as I am a big fan of the "He who throws the most dice wins" school of Warhammer.

 

That's just it the whole point of spears vs hand weapons is weither you want to throw more dice when attacking or when saving. By the way i believe saurus are expensive enough and usually skip on spending even more points for spears.

 

With either life or light you'll get a much better defensive boost than a mere 6+ save, so the points spent on boosting their offense are well worth it.

 

In my last tourney I ran a block of both.

 

ah, but could you not also say that with the lores of light and, to lesser degree, life provide a significant boost to offensive capabilities, thus rendering the extra rank of attacks unnecessary?
With light you have the boost to WS and an extra attack and magic missiles, with life you have the direct damage spells and the Shield of Thorns that will cause wounds.

For the record, I love spears in my light slann list.

 

Spears with a shadow slann is really fun too. Those 25 strength 8 hits are pretty nasty!

 

With Life it's an even trade (toughness boost makes up for the loss of parry), but with Light you'd be a fool to not take spears as you get a boost to both offense (SoL +Timewarp) and defense (SoL + Pha's)-- and the faster you kill something the less wounds you take overall.


/loves Light and spear Saurus

 

This may help you answer this one;
http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=285743

(Saurus spears or HW/Shield was the question that started this project)

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAURGHHHHHHHHHhhrrg!...
MY EYES, the math, IT BUUURNS!!!!

 

I haven't read through all of the comments,
but I have two good units of about 28 models, all with spears.
because of the reason that they are defensive..,let's face facts, a saurus unit is not likely to charge, in my excperience, they're the ones being charged (not really a lot of experience though.., 6 games)
I have played them once as HW..,and I will try it again.., but I equip the models with spears.. because that's at this point my favorite way of running them [convince me of the opposite if you want, I'm a newby!]
about the horde rule.., don't do it.., it's better to get rank bonus! =] besides.., our warriors don't need to depend on it.., unlike skaven or whatever lesser race you can think of! ^_^

Tristan

 

i run 2 units of 35 strong spears and mixing that with my life slaan is in a word, BRUTAL!

Toughness 8 saurus with 28 attacks, with -1 to the enemys armour save due to str 4. Can't go wrong.

Yours Aye

Mixer

 

Cool idea. So to sum up.... Which is better?

 

Welll...
the answer is...





It realy depends on what unit you are facing.