7th Ed. Question on Terradons

[Sashu]

So, I have been debating something in my head for a bit.

Terradons as great yes; however, there may be a unit that can rival them.

A 3 man unit of Terradons has 3 wounds, moves 20", fly, are fast cav, and have a normal skinks LD.

A Chief on a Terradon, naked, costs a couple points less, only has two wounds, but he has a pip of leadership. If you give him a few upgrades such as shield, light armor, and a spear, he now S5 attacks, he also has more suviability. At this point he costs a couple points more than the normal terradon unit.

You can also drop bane head on the skink chief to make him even more scary against mages etc.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this topic? He strikes me as a very good investment for the points.

In a nutshell
Terradon Advantages
2 more drop rocks
1 more wound
A couple points cheaper
2 more terradon attacks
US 5

Character
Better armor
Better stength
Better Weapon skill
Better LD
Can take Bane Head

So, what are your views on that matter?

 

[Caneghem]

Terradons have two wounds apiece. I think you may be underestimating some of the other advantages of a plain terradon unit as well.

Terradon Advantages
2 more drop rocks - (This gets to be a decent ability with 3d3 str 4 hits. It's enough to wipe out that unit of skirmishers or fast cav very efficiently (i.e., you can do it on the way to do something else) With just 1d3 you aren't really going to do much, maybe pick off one or two, but not get a panic check.)
1 more wound - (actually 4 more)
A couple points cheaper
2 more terradon attacks
US 5 - (this is HUGE. Having a highly mobile unit that is US5+ to start means you can set up all sorts of traps with them. I advise starting with 4 terradons so that this advantage is preserved throughout the game (or until you take a 4th wound). On turn 6, if you manage to preserve US5, you can simply FLY to contest or claim a table quarter, grabbing that extra 100 points.)

Character
Better armor
Better stength
Better Weapon skill
Better LD
Can take Bane Head
The character serves a totally different purpose, as he is outfitted for combat. Whether you want to take this in addition to terradons would be the question, although he is a fairly soft target still. He'll start with 4+ armor, though I recommend upping that to 3+ with enchanted shield. In any case, any type of shooting will instantly magnetize to this guy, since he's a high point value target with little defense. Now if you tucked him into a unit of terradons to start off, you would at least get to randomize the shots (although you should of course not get your birds in line of fire until absolutely unavoidable). At a key moment, he can charge out of the unit and skewer a mage, while the terradons go and do the things for which they are suited.

I might gear him up with enchanted shield, light armour, spear, and venom of the firefly frog. That way he'd be a bit more versatile, and could do something against armies who don't have a character than he has a chance of killing. He could probably also wipe out the lighter support units. Finally, the poisoned and magic attacks will make him capable of killing a lot of different things, and he'll still be pretty powerful in subsequent rounds.

 

[thesecondman]

The character is better, but costs more points kitted out (just), and of course, the takes up a hero choice.