AoS Let's Talk Saurus Warriors

[Scalenex]

So my favorite way to try to grasp table toptop gaming tactics is to break things up into individual pieces and look at the pie I’m trying to get into Age of Sigmar now. My favorite way to try to grasp table toptop gaming tactics is to break things up into individual pieces and look at the pieces. So, let's talk Saurus Warriors. I have over 100 of them looking down at me from my shelf. They yearn for Age of Sigmar action.

I’m going to lay down some theoryhammer but it’s been influenced heavily by my 8th edition experience, and people who actually have played games can pick

What are Saurus Warriors for?

You win battles by securing objectives or depleting the enemy, so some combination of the two.

Saurus Warriors are for depleting the enemy ranks. Skinks are faster so they can grab empty or lightly defended objectives better. Saurus Guard die slower, so they can hold contested objectives better.

How Many Units?

Zero Saurus Warrior Units: Why are you even reading a thread about Saurus Warriors?

One Saurus Warrior Unit: We have to take some battleline units. This way one of the battlelines can fight a straight up slug fest. The rest can give you speed and ranged attacks

Two Saurus Warrior Units: For a more aggressive hard hitting battleline.

Three Saurus Warrior Units: The Sunclaw Starhost abilities are pretty appealing. You need three Saurus Warrior Units to qualify for a Sunclaw Starhost. I cannot imagine spending so many points on Saurus Warriors and not spend the relatively small amount of extra points to get the Starhost.

Four Saurus Warrior Units: No point. Everything good has a point of diminishing returns. Battleline minimums are not particularly hard to fill. If you need more units take some Skinks or borrow from another army since that’s pretty easy to do in Age of Sigmar.

The way I see it, we should take one or three. I see little appeal in two. It’s so close to three, why not take three? Maybe I’m overvaluing the Sunclaw Starhost, but I like it.


How Big Are the Units?

Ten Saurus Warriors
Pros: It doesn’t cost a lot of points and you can fill up your Battleline minimum requirement with 10 Saurus Warrior units. The cheapest way to qualify for the Sunclaw Starhost the is three units of 10.
Cons: The minimum size unit cannot take a lot of hits before it’s destroyed.

Forty Saurus Warriors
Pros: Lots of bodies to take hits and inflicts. Good for taking ground.
Cons: Big units costs more points. Big units can be unwieldy on a crowded table.

Twenty or Thirty Saurus Warriors
Pros: You mitigate the disadvantages of the other two options.
Cons: You don’t enjoy the full advantage of the other two options.


Spears or Handweapons?

I know they are called Celestite Clubs and Celestite Spears but I’m not making a Celestite Thread on a Celestite laptop so I’ll call them what they are.

In 8th edition spears were better in some situations and hand weapons were better in other situations, but the situations where hand weapons were better were far more commonly encountered.

My sincerest hope is that experienced Age of Sigmar players will tell me that both hand weapons and spears are equally valid choices for different reasons, but I suspect one is better. Handweapons wound the enemy easier than spears. Spears have reach giving you more attacks. Is one of these traits better?

Theory One: Spears are better in the vast majority of situations.

Given Professor Ixt’s excellent Tactica on formations, the basic principle of melee tactics formations seems to be that you want to maximize the number of friendly models that can attack while minimizing the number of enemy models that can attack. Spears accomplish this.

Theory Two: Spears are better in large units, hand weapons are better in small units.

A large unit of Saurus Warriors benefits from the extra reach of spears. This means fewer Saurus in the back ranks have unused attacks. Conversely, small units have less probably getting more or all of the unit into contact with the enemy. When you have fewer models and fewer attacks, you want to make each attack you have count.

Theory Three: I am wrong. It’s rare but it has happened before.


Anyway please pick apart my theory based assumptions. I feel like one should cover battlefield integration with other units. I do not feel confident to type up assumptions on how they play with others except in the very broadest sense.

Professor Killer Angel classifed them as "aggressive" in his tactica. We have other units for speed and sneaky stuff. We have powerful characters and mighty dinosaurs for concentrated raw power. I see Saurus Warriors as being destined for slow and steady advances. Not for holding ground, not for stunning blitzkriegs, not for unexpected tricks.

 

[Seraphage]

I find this post to be really useful, interesting and enjoyable to read ( theory three and so on )

 

[Crowsfoot]

Your pretty spot on with your analysis

 

[MerciaBear]

Very helpful thanks very much! I like the flexibility spears gives you.

 

[Killer Angel]

Professor Killer Angel classifed them as "aggressive" in his tactica.

How Big Are the Units?

Ten Saurus Warriors
Pros: It doesn’t cost a lot of points and you can fill up your Battleline minimum requirement with 10 Saurus Warrior units. The cheapest way to qualify for the Sunclaw Starhost the is three units of 10.
Cons: The minimum size unit cannot take a lot of hits before it’s destroyed.

Forty Saurus Warriors
Pros: Lots of bodies to take hits and inflicts. Good for taking ground.
Cons: Big units costs more points. Big units can be unwieldy on a crowded table.

Twenty or Thirty Saurus Warriors
Pros: You mitigate the disadvantages of the other two options.
Cons: You don’t enjoy the full advantage of the other two options.

I'm not a fan of ten warriors.
You are basically using them just to fullfill required battleline units: at that point, i tend to use 10 skinks: cheaper and faster. The only exception is when i need a third cheap unit for the sunclaw starhost.
if you go for a saurus block, go for option 2 or 3.

Spears or Handweapons?

Theory One: Spears are better in the vast majority of situations.

Given Professor Ixt’s excellent Tactica on formations, the basic principle of melee tactics formations seems to be that you want to maximize the number of friendly models that can attack while minimizing the number of enemy models that can attack. Spears accomplish this.

Theory Two: Spears are better in large units, hand weapons are better in small units.

A large unit of Saurus Warriors benefits from the extra reach of spears. This means fewer Saurus in the back ranks have unused attacks. Conversely, small units have less probably getting more or all of the unit into contact with the enemy. When you have fewer models and fewer attacks, you want to make each attack you have count.

Theory Three: I am wrong. It’s rare but it has happened before.


Anyway please pick apart my theory based assumptions.

The question is complex.
handweapons have better stat, so if you want to use spears, you need to exploit their superior range.
When you fight also with the back "ranks", a unit of 30 warriors w spears is better than 30 clubs, but such a unit it's also slow and it may be difficult to dictate the charges. You will be more easily the target of charges, and if a solid monster attacks you, you could remain with a dozen warriors to counterattack, losing the only advantage of spears.
So yes, spears are better for hordes... in theory.
I wouldn't take spears, unless my unit is at least 30 warriors strong.

 

[Bowser]

Okay, you have it down fairly well here, 4 or more saurus warriors units can be useful if you have both objectives and a time of war in play. Use them in a bloodclaw starhost if you want to maximize.
Forty warriors can be great for a massive conga line of death, in which case spears may be the better choice. Also as insurance for keeping extra attacks.
20-30 is best option, you get +1 to hit with 20, and an extra attack at 30.
I would say 70% of the time celestite clubs are better than the spears, because of the +3 wound instead of +4. The extra range only helps when you have large units where you can't pile them all in. Spears are a bit more useful on square bases than on rounds, as the rounds are a bit bigger, and squares are just under an inch, your placement must be solid with rounds.
Warriors are a fairly slow and steady unit, with a few tricks up there sleeve when synergized properly.

 

[Lachlin]

^^^ yep. All my saurus warriors are on round bases and most the spear units i go against are on the smaller square bases, so the enemy gets more ranks to attack with. I find our spears outmatched by the abilities of other spear units.

 

[Ecozh]

I use 20 in conjuction with my Sunblood. Most opponents see my other guard units and take these 20 as 'the weakpoint'.

But 1 star priest spell and the rerolls of the sunblood can change a lot.

Last match I also combined them with 3 rippers, which wiped 20 gobbo spiders.
(That was 200 points well spend)