7th Ed. Terradons vs. Sallies

[Sammy the Squib]

Recently I have thougt about replacing the sallies in my 2k list for terradons. A largish unit is great for mage hunting and taking out war machines, as well as march blocking. Sallies are also great but I can't help but feel the terradons have slightly more tactical options open to them. Any thoughts?

Cheers,

Stonehambey

 

[Craken]

I agree, I enjoy the terradons myself. Being able to go vitually anywhere on the map is a pretty awesome advantage. Although you will lose out on some shooting, their close combat special rule is very useful.

 

[Origin]

I also agree. Sallies are effective purerly because of game mechanics and they are only really effective at one task. Terradons on the other hand are flexable and require a little more skill to use, thus more rewarding to field. They look cool to.

And besides keep theose rare slots open for Stegadons.

 

[Ychig0]

In my opinion, sallies are better.Terradons can be more versatile but they can just take down few models per turn.But if 3 sallies you can more than 10 guys each shooting phase.

 

[Origin]

Terradons can deliver a good number of attacks over a small frontage. Be in the right time and in the right place without much difficulty. A couple of extra casulaties and a flank or rear CR bonus can turn th tide of an entire game. Unless you have 6 Sallies with hordes of skinks and potent magic, ranged firepower will not deliver the same result. Sallies have their place but they are outclassed by the potential of a unit of terradons.

 

[Axolotl]

It really depends. against armies with a lot of shooting (or even moderate shooting) teras will go down like flies. Sallies rock against almost every kind of army.

I usually go with salamanders AND Teradons though because i don't want to miss the advantages of either.

 

[SohCahToa]

yeah...I would agree. Comparing Sallies to Terradons is about as arbitrary as comparing saurus to jungle swarms. Yes, they are both what can essentially be considered to be support units. But the manner in which they support the major units in your army are very different. I would suggest leaving your sallies in your list, as point for point they are considered to be the best unit in our army. You cant really sniff at what is essentially a mobile/cushioned volley gun.

But on the other hand, I also never play a game without Terradons. Stat-wise they are only worse than pegasus knights when considering flying units, but unlike the knights they have the ability to snipe with javelins and hit and run. So yes, as everyone above has said, there effective.

Which brings me to my suggestion . Try dropping a unit of Saurus and taking 2 units of terries with the spare points. You'll find that by combining sallies, terries, and kroxies together, the awkward Saurus blocks become unnecessary

 

[freakndell]

Well it's a answer to a question of some time ago, but i just could not let this go bye, without my answer.
(Note the last part...my answer)
It is mentioned but to repeat...to compare these 2 is like comparring a flamethrower with a toothpick!

First: the toothpick
Terradons are Great. fast, effective and supporting your heavyweights, by eliminating threads fast!
Tactically challanging!
the score:
tactical +
speed ++
hitting power + (higher on a single character of course......)
staying power (cc) ++ (thank you hit and run)
To "hurt" an enemy with a toothpick is harder to pull off, but when you do ....man the satisfaction it gives!

second the flamethrower:
Everybody can hit something with a flamethrower. Everybody can burn things....Only a good general knows exacly when to burn and when to hit with it (yes! you can hit with a flamethrower...just not always the easy route)
Sallies are Super! Roasting everything within range! Packing a punch (s5, t4) and fear causing. The bane of everything low T, goblins, skinks, skellies, elves, human, the list goes on. No disadvantage on a missfire (losing skinks is nothing, compared to other miscasttables)
tactical: + (but a small one)
speed: ++ yes smoking the enemy turn 2 (or if your opponent began, maybe even turn 1)
hitting power: +++ No rolling to hit, just the number of hits!
Staying power: ++

My say..use 'm both!
but that's not a new statement also....

 

[Pinkus]

My last game the first turn my sallies fired all that was left of 6 spider riders was some extra tasty crispy legs, which surprisingly tasted like chicken.

 

[kroxigor01]

As others have said, why not take both? If only we could break the normal special and rare cap rules like those dastardly elves!

 

[El_Collyero]

Don't forget that Salamanders are pretty sturdy in close combat as well. Add a JSOD to the unit and now you can charge and break most light/med cav. Throw these guys on the flank against an O&G army and laugh at how many points they'll roll up each turn.

 

[Pinkus]

Don't forget that Salamanders are pretty sturdy in close combat as well. Add a JSOD to the unit and now you can charge and break most light/med cav. Throw these guys on the flank against an O&G army and laugh at how many points they'll roll up each turn.

Unfortunetely on wendesday I tried that very tactic but a savage orc bigun's rolled a 6 for animosity and a 6 for their movement then chared into my poor sallies.

 

[Cragspyder]

I use 3 Terradons and a unit of 2 Salamanders in the same list, and though I really do like the Terradons, the Salamanders outperform them every time.

Even though they both have LD 5, the Salamanders can take cover in woods or difficult terrain (which is where I normally place them), are slower so often are near the general, Cause Fear so they don't have to take Terror checks and rarely have to take Fear checks, and have more resiliance overall then the Terradons. Not to mention their shooting can be VERY nasty if you get lucky, and they can fight in CC half decently too.

Terradons, like most fliers, are made to kill war machines and wizards. Due to their special rule (Hit + Run) they are better at taking out Wizards then most other fliers. However, they have real problems with war machines. This is because most War Machines aside from Cannons (most Cannon users guess extremely well so this isn't even a guarentee) and Stone Throwers have a decent chance of killing one Terradon and forcing a panic check on LD 5, which means that they are fleeing half of the time. These war machines will be firing before you can charge, guarenteed. Best case scenario is two Goblin Bolt Throwers, each with a 1/3 chance to hit you, and a pretty much guarenteed kill. Next case is one or more Elven Bolt Throwers (who will hit you on 4+ with 6 bolts which almost guarentees a dead Terradon). Worst case are Skaven, Wood Elves or Dwarves (or Empire Helblaster) where the Terradons will likely be wiped out before they do anything.

Maybe I am just using them wrong. I fight Chaos a lot so the Terradons are useless against everything and most of my opponents don't waste their points on Fast Cavalry or Fliers of their own, preferring to purchase their 1+ or 2+ Save Knights, Large Monsters and the good types of War Machine (ie. not Stone Throwers).