8th Ed. Hand Weapons or Spears?

[The Lybithian]

In 8th edition what is, in your opinion overall more effective in the Saurus units...Spears or hand weapons?

 

[n810]

hand weapons work better in small units,
spears work better in large units.

 

[pgarfunkle]

So far I've only used Hand Weapons and Shields and have found them very effective so far. I'm using a unit of 20 saurus that came in the Battalion .

I was just thinking about this and the sweet spot for hand weapons and shields I guess would be a unit of 30 Saurus as with a frontage of 10 they are benefit from the Horde rule and so all get to attack or support.

So a unit over this size or with a frontage less than 10 would benefit from spears to get the extra supporting attacks.

I had been planning to get another 40 Saurus to make a total of 2 x 30 model hordes but maybe instead I'll go for 1 horde with Hand Weapons and Shields and 2 x 15 model units with Spears and see how that plays out.

Of course they only get the extra attacks when charged so I will have to make them nice tempting targets some where.

 

[walach]

i used a unit of both in a recent tournament, honestly didnt see much difference between them, thus i voted HW/S as it's a tad cheaper

 

[jormi_boced]

I am running both in my current list.

 

[Juhaaha]

HWs+Shields, Cheaper and get free 6+ ward

 

[Iggy Koopa]

Same here. 3 units of 20 saurus, 2 of them with spears 1 without. Haven't noticed a huge difference... I guess it's if you want to spend / save the points...


Iggy Koopa

 

[novatomato]

I need an option for both.
I also run at least two units of saurus around 20 strong with hand weapon and shield and another generally similar size with spears.

 

[Hiv0r]

I was gonna say that can't be answered in a poll for me either...

If im taking 1 unit of Saurus -> Hand weapon and shields.
If im taking 2 units of Saurus -> Spears + Handweapons

They do different things one isn't better than the other and it depends on the synergy of your list.

Defensive list = spears every time to absorb the charge.
Offensive list = hand weapons so you can still charge effectively
Middle list = one of each.

Also depends how hard/soft the rest of your list is. I am not taking life and therefore wont have much regen happening and barely any wards in the army due to no EoTG either so I have chosen HW + Shields.

 

[strewart]

I was just thinking about this and the sweet spot for hand weapons and shields I guess would be a unit of 30 Saurus as with a frontage of 10 they are benefit from the Horde rule and so all get to attack or support.

I would not take a horde unit of anything on 25mm bases... You are looking at a width of 250mm, which means if you charged a horde of 20mm models you could JUST via corner to corner get every model attacking, but anything smaller and you would be wasting attacks. The added downside of poking out that far either side is it becomes harder for you to offer your unit extra support (less room) and very very easy for the opponent to offer support; there is 25mm either side for them to hit with a chariot, monster or anything nasty.

Its hard to say, from what I've read around here both options are taken about 50/50 and both options have their uses. I think with the nerf to spears they are certainly a lot less useful than they used to be, and its about 50/50 for me about which to take so one small factor pushes me towards hand weapons. They look awesome! The saurus hand weapon arms look so good, I was disappointed spears were the obvious choice in 7th ed, now I can use the cool looking hand weapons.

Have made a unit or two of each though so I have the choice.