# Best Core unit



## bobss (May 18, 2008)

As title says, what do you think is the best Core unit? In terms of Cost, Flexibility, General Performace and how well they work with the rest of the force.

My vote goes for Chaos Warriors. Expensive compared to many other choices like maruders and other armies cores, but good on paper and generally good on the tabletop unlike sarus, can be kitted out to deal with pretty much anything, although some combos work better than others and work as an excellent anvil unit with help from knights etc


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## Tim/Steve (Jan 25, 2009)

Ogre Ironguts... so good that you could spam them and have nothing but them and characters (and the 1 unit of bulls that you must have) and actually have a really decent army. I often run 9 units of core in my 2000pt ogre army... 5 of which would be ironguts (others being 2 units of bulls and 2 units of gnoblars)- 1000pts of core, 800 of characters and 200pts of specials (just a tad different from my HEs )


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## Stella Cadente (Dec 25, 2006)

Empire spearmen/halberdiers/swordsmen...............oh best units, I thought I read units that are a complete waste of time and points


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## Tim/Steve (Jan 25, 2009)

Stella Cadente said:


> Empire spearmen/halberdiers/swordsmen...............oh best units, I thought I read units that are a complete waste of time and points


Not coming through as bitter at all there Stella


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## cain the betrayer (Oct 12, 2009)

my vote goes for chaos warrriors they have a profile and weapon options where
they can compete with the most specials


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## ChaosRedCorsairLord (Apr 17, 2009)

Summoned Zombies! (yes I am that annoying guy on the WHFB thread that rants on how awesomely useful they are.)

But seriously? Hmm... I'd have to say the lowly Tilean duelist, a 5pt/m skirmish screen.


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## bobss (May 18, 2008)

> Summoned Zombies! (yes I am that annoying guy on the WHFB thread that rants on how awesomely useful they are.)


True, although you arn`t that *other* annoying guy that rants about how awesomely useful Horrors are:laugh:


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## Stella Cadente (Dec 25, 2006)

Tim/Steve said:


> Not coming through as bitter at all there Stella


of course not, just because I lost 30 spearmen and a BSB to 5 charging Khorne knights, who afterwards proceeded to kill 15 swordsmen, why would I ever be bitter

(although in my head spear vs horse = dead horse)


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## Nipolian (Nov 4, 2009)

Men At Arms how can you beat WS2 S3 T3 5pts 





Just joking I think the Chaos Warriors name another WS5 S4 T4 A2 I5 core unit


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## Nipolian (Nov 4, 2009)

Actually maby the high elf spear men ws4 s3 t3 Always strike first and attack in 2-3 ranks 

The sea gard (dont know if they are core though) have spears and bows with same stats of spears


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## bobss (May 18, 2008)

As any HE player would tell you Sea Guard suck, and Spearmen may seem like they can pump out alot of attacks but at S3 they will do pretty much F- all to most decent units.


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## Tim/Steve (Jan 25, 2009)

Yup, HE core is just there to fill the min requirement... it is almost totally useless. My HE are always at min core req, while my ogres are just happy there isnt a max core limit


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## Muffinman (Aug 31, 2009)

I'm going to have to cast my vote with eiter Saurus Warriors because even thought they a bit worse than Chaos Warrior you can still pump out 10-20 
str4 attacks and a 4+/3+ save depending on what you give them. I also have to mention skink Skirmishers because their blowpipes are gold especially when dealing with giants and Hellpit abominations.


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## Orochi (Jan 28, 2009)

Corsairs.
Good armour, high amount of attacks, and good leadership.

Failing that, Ghouls are pretty impressive for their point value.


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## Freedirtyneedles (Oct 22, 2009)

gotta vote for chaos warriors, yeah they're expensive, but ws 5 str 4 t 4 core unit? hell not only are they better than alot of special units out there, a unit champion is almost better than other army heroes....


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## jonnye29 (Nov 14, 2009)

I may be a bit bias but my vote goes for Clanrats, incrediably cheap, for instance a unit of 20 with shields, spears and full command 120!!!!!!

I do belief thats less than 10 Chaos Warriors, I know what i would rather have!!!


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## Tim/Steve (Jan 25, 2009)

yeah, the warriors


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## The Fallen (Jul 15, 2009)

Close one between Saurus Warriors and Chaos Warriors...but in te end its gotta be Chaos warriors. Just because it requires no brain capacity to use them; all thats required is a hand to roll the dice ;-)


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## Nipolian (Nov 4, 2009)

Not to mention Chaos Warriors laugh at shoting (Especialy with the mark of Nurgle)


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## Nipolian (Nov 4, 2009)

Freedirtyneedles said:


> gotta vote for chaos warriors, yeah they're expensive, but ws 5 str 4 t 4 core unit? hell not only are they better than alot of special units out there, a unit champion is almost better than other army heroes....


you forgot 2 attacks!!!!


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## Nipolian (Nov 4, 2009)

And 3+ Armor save with sheilds


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## Nipolian (Nov 4, 2009)

With BS3 at half your range (mark of Nurgle) you have a 1 in 6 chance in even hiting a warrior!!!


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## Tim/Steve (Jan 25, 2009)

but charge their flank and do 4-5 wounds and they are still going to be running, and with such a high cost and low M you will find it incredibly hard to keep their flanks secure- just having high WS S A and AS stats means they are incredibly good if you can get them into the situations that you want them... but Im pretty sure that both my ogres and HE would walk over a warrior heavy WoC list (ogres will get flank charges... its what they are best at, and HE can march block the hell out of you while the bolt throwers and lore of metal mages kill everything else).

There is a definate bonus to having underated but good units, people either dont know how to counter them or dont care enough to... warriors are universally known to be lethal, and as such are just too obvious a choice in my eyes.


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## AAAAAAAAARRRGGHH (Apr 17, 2009)

Harpies!! 10 of them is the best 110 points in your army. But you shouldn't spam them. They don't do THAT much. But leaving home without them is no good. 
Unfortunately they don't fill out the min. core requirements.


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## Orochi (Jan 28, 2009)

You have to remember that although Chaos warriors are undoubtably the most physical Core choice, there points value pushes them into a different catagory.

The catagory filled with Black Guard, Sword masters, grave guard etc.

Core yes, but....You'll never see a 3k+ army with just Warriors, Marauders are a necessity due to the points cost being so low in comparison.


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## neilbatte (Jan 2, 2008)

I know that when compared on paper to chaos warriors marauders are weaker but for their cost and with all the different marks/ weapon options they are far superior to almost all other normal core (and by normal core I mean anything not CHAOS WARRIOR)
The chaos warriors are great but there not exactly expendable are they and I consider that a must.
I think that the minimum requirements for a core choice is cheap spammable blocks of troops that might win a combat if lucky but really are there to soak up fire to save your actual useful troops and with the addition of a half decent character can hold their own against most things.


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## Dragearen (Sep 8, 2009)

Probably Saurus Warriors.
With hand weapons: 11 points a pop, 2 attacks a pop, S4 T4 3+ save(in CC).
With spears, 12 points, 2 attacks, attacks in two ranks, S4 T4 4+ save.


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## The Son of Horus (Dec 30, 2006)

Orochi said:


> You have to remember that although Chaos warriors are undoubtably the most physical Core choice, there points value pushes them into a different catagory.
> 
> The catagory filled with Black Guard, Sword masters, grave guard etc.
> 
> Core yes, but....You'll never see a 3k+ army with just Warriors, Marauders are a necessity due to the points cost being so low in comparison.


I disagree. I only run one unit of 20 marauders in my Warriors army, purely because I've got nothing better to do with 100 points---even at the 3000+ category. I only own one unit of Marauders, and I've never had any evidence on the table to suggest that I need to get more. They rarely do much, to boot, unless you arm and armor them to the point where you might as well just buy a Warrior of Chaos for four points more. My army absolutely cleans house, too-- the only times I've lost have been when my dice decide they're not going to cooperate, or I'm playing against Lizardmen, which are just a tough army for me for some reason.


Which brings me to my next point-- Lizardmen Saurus Warriors are hands down the best core unit in the game. They're inexpensive for what you get, and if you run the numbers, a unit of 20 with spears mathematically beats a unit of Chaos Warriors of 15 (which costs roughly the same points) almost every time. Saurus also have that handy Cold Blooded rule, which means that when you run the numbers, they're rolling against what amounts to leadership 9.5 instead of leadership 7, so they're not likely to break unless you find a way to absolutely decimate them, which is a lot harder than it sounds.


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## Nipolian (Nov 4, 2009)

I think the warriors would win! 
If you give them the mark of khorne and a additional hand wepon in a unit of 12 they are 18pts less than a block of twenty. they have 4 attacks each so if half of them miss the it will be plenty to wipe out the Saurus warriors because of there low initive!


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## Vaz (Mar 19, 2008)

ADHW is for shock factor. Against anyone with skill and experience, they'll shrug and pick up the 5 Successful to wound rolls and lose 2 models.

On the other hand, 18 S6 Attacks will see your opponent lose 5-6. Well worth.

I have several -

Nurgle Warriors with Great Weapons and Shield. Can handily take on most things on their own, but suffer against Wood Elves and other highly maneuverable archers.

Chaos Hounds - cheap cheerful, useful, and very fast. Awesome unit.

Marauder - Slow, but extremely cheap. Give him a flail and a Mark and protect adequately, and you'll do perfectly. To be honest, if I could keep the models, I would just run 300 of them.

Dwarven Thunderers - Great Weapons, Shields, Heavy Armour, T4, and +1 to hit, S4 AP shots. Noice. Not much more you could really want from them.

Daemon Horrors - magic spammmmm

Plaguebearers - they will NOT move. 

Plague Monks - although they could do with Flails, and require Skrolk as a Lord Choice to become Lord, and ideally Plague Monk with Plague Censer riding a Furnace, as a combination, it's deadly. Plus, they're only 7 points, get+1 to flee, T4, Frenzy, ADHW, and Ld Bonus from Ranks (so usually this is ld10).


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## Nipolian (Nov 4, 2009)

I would much perfer 24 WS5 S4 attacks


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## Nipolian (Nov 4, 2009)

But it depends on who you fight the skaven, elevs, and the empire the ADHW will do better. But aggenst the Oger Kingdom (or armys with a T higher than 3)the great weapon will do better.


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## The Son of Horus (Dec 30, 2006)

I prefer the hand weapon and shield on my Warriors of Khorne. It sounds odd at first glance, but bear with me. The unit is still putting out 16 WS5, S4 attacks. That's the same as any other unit of Warriors with two hand weapons. Then, however, I still have the benefits of having a hand weapon and a shield, so I'm saving on 2+ against S3 and 3+ against S4-- which means I usually win combat. What ends up happening is I hit most things with about 10 attacks, and wound with 7 of them. Most opponents will be saving on 5+ if they're using a hand weapon and shield, so there's a fairly reasonable chance that I'm going to wipe the front rank anyway. If I do take attacks back from spears, having the extra attacks from a second hand weapon wouldn't have stopped me from getting hit back in all likelihood, and I'm safer with the shield than not. With great weapons, I've found I'm vulnerable to protracted combats, and because the dice are such a variable, I prefer to minimize the risk of blowing my figurative load on the first round of combat. It doesn't look nearly as good on paper as great weapons, I realize, but in practice, it's served me far better.


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## Vaz (Mar 19, 2008)

Actually, it won't. Tried and tested, Great Weapon and Halberd ties in competitiveness, but due to most tournament armies consisting of several T4+ or multiple 2+ AS units, 18 S6 Attacks will thrash the monkey out of anything.

If you want the maths - 

S5+ Against T3
18 Attacks, hitting on 3's, 12 hits. Wounding on 2's, 10 wounds, no save. 

S4+ Against T3
24 Attacks, hitting on 3's, 18 hits, wounding on 3's, 12 wounds, allows a small save. mostly this will be a 4+, modified to 5+, so that's 8 wounds, and it just get's worse from there. The only time it's of greater benefit is when the target has a 6+ Armour Save, or worse, or they only have a Ward Save.

As you can see, that they're only just better at low toughnesses and armour saves, whereas heavy armour will exponentially lower ADHW abilities.

There is no difference between Great Weapon or Halberd, other than if you face several units which can hold a charge with a lowish initiative, or you need to kill heavy armour. I always go for GW's now, because I feel that removing that last point of save from Light Armour, Shield and Sword like Empire Swordsmen or Medium Cavalry, like Heavy Khemri Cavalry is worth it.

Edit @ Horus - you should always take a shield in any case on warriors - but there's no reason why NOT to take an additional weapon (Note, I do not mean ADHW) for those what if's, and "oh those heavy cavalry are in charge range" moments.


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## Nipolian (Nov 4, 2009)

I find GW to make the already very expence warriors to expencive because i alway feild them with shields


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## matty570 (Jun 14, 2007)

I think for the points cost ghouls are great 8 points for 2 str4 poisoned attacks, with t4 to boot, the fact the that they are itp, cause fear and can be revived pretty easily it makes for a very solid core choice. Add to the fact that if a character takes ghoul kin all ghoul units in the army can make a free move before the game begins.

Yeah they have no armour or standards but I still think they are a solid choice.


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## bobss (May 18, 2008)

Ok, Ill add another.

Plaguebearers.
T 4
S 4 ( For a unit thats not supposed to be well known for its S this is good )
Poisened attacks
Daemonic 
Regeneration with Herald
Enemy gains no bonus when charged in the flank rear for only 10 points
Several banners, gifts that also make it hard to kill with Instability
Palanquin of Nurgle dishing out plenty of attacks at a decent strength

and for what? 13 points apiece, with the Herald also being fairly cheap, giving the unit awesome bonus and being able to strike hard against almost any unit?


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## Tim/Steve (Jan 25, 2009)

God I hate plaguebearers... I dont think think they are that good but they certainly control the game: taking them requires the herald (otherwise they are just slow and soft) which means you lose a hero slot (so wont have a decent mage with it.. making a nurgle herald a mage is just too expensive and too rubbish).

Whenever I play my local daemon player (loves his plaguebearers) my ogres just kill everything else then surround the pgs (they are so slow that I have plenty of time, especialy if they get marched blocked or blocked by a ustubborn unit for a couple of turns) and my HEs just go lore of fire and decimate the units each turn... he has so little magic that I can just spam my own, meaning my ogres are all either stubborn or regenerating and my HEs can get off all the fire magic they would ever want (this ebven happened when he used Kairos and the Blue Scribes as his other characters).


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