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Warriors of Chaos (Marauder Tribe) · 120 points · Cheap shock hammer
Are Huscarls with flails good?
Huscarls with flails are very good into ordinary infantry for only 120 points. They won 9 of 10 charges into Clanrats in my tests, but they collapsed when anything charged them first.
Quick answer: it depends what you point Huscarls at
- Role
- Cheap shock hammer
- Good against
- Jade Warriors on the charge (7/10), Clanrats on the charge (9/10)
- Struggles against
- Ironbreakers on the charge (1/10), charging Gors (0/10)
- Record
- 23/40 charging · 6/30 receiving
Their job is hitting ordinary infantry first. I would not ask them to hold a line: when the enemy charged, they won 6 of 30 fights.
How many simulations I ran
I ran 70 complete combats with Huscarls with flails, each fought through break tests and pursuit to the end: 40 with them charging and 30 with the enemy charging. These were the results.
No simulation is perfect, and my Huscarls results are no exception: the dice fall on open ground, with no magic, no extra characters and no opponent making decisions. One lucky break test can move a result by a whole fight, so the Huscarls’ result against charging Knights of the Realm (6/20) could easily have come out one either way. They tell you what to point Huscarls at, not what will happen every time.
How do Huscarls do on the charge?
Huscarls charging. Fights won. n = 10 fights per opponent
| Opponent | Pts | Won |
|---|---|---|
| 15 Jade Warriors | 138 | 7/10 |
| 8 Ironbreakers | 141 | 1/10 |
| 20 Clanrats | 137 | 9/10 |
| 3 Rat Ogres + Master Moulder | 150 | 6/10 |
How do Huscarls do when the enemy charges?
Huscarls receiving. Fights won. n = 20 and 10 fights
| Charging enemy | Pts | Won |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Knights of the Realm | 141 | 6/20 |
| 17 Gors | 136 | 0/10 |
What I think Huscarls are good at
- They were excellent into ordinary ranked infantry again and again: 7 out of 10 against Jade Warriors in two separate batches, and 9 out of 10 against Clanrats.
- Flails, Furious Charge, horse attacks and Swiftstride together produced huge first-round damage under the rules reading I used.
- I would hit ordinary infantry first with them, ideally a target already set up for a run-down.
Watch out
They are not an anvil. Their results collapsed against Ironbreakers and when Gors charged them: 0 wins from 10.
Combinations that worked for me
I paired Huscarls with other units in these combinations, which I explain on my Battle March units page:
- Marauder anvil + Huscarl hammer
Is this the best Huscarls build?
The Huscarls on this page are one of several Huscarls builds I tested, and my best Huscarl build page compares them all at 500 combats per matchup.
Other Battle March units I tested
- Khorne Chaos Warriors with great weapons137 pts · Armour and monster breaker
- Khorne Chaos Warriors with additional hand weapons130 pts · Attack-volume infantry
- Khorne Chaos Knights with lances142 pts · Elite shock cavalry
- Berserkers with flails137 pts · All-round melee infantry
- Bloodied Hound Marauders with great weapons143 pts · Ranked block with sustained S5
- Bloodied Hound Marauders with flails137 pts · Charge-dependent ranked infantry
- Rat Ogres with a Master Moulder150 pts · Monstrous hammer
- Plague Monks153 pts · Attritional attack-volume block
- Jade Lancers138 pts · Support, flank and pursuit cavalry
- Giant Rats and handlers115 pts · Screen, bait and redirector
- Clanrats with spears and shields137 pts · Tarpit and ranked anvil
My conclusion
Based on these results, I would use Huscarls with flails for hitting ordinary infantry first, and not for holding a line or charging elite armour, to get the most out of them on the battlefield.
FAQs
What are Huscarls with flails best against?
Clanrats: the Huscarls won 9 of 10 charges into them in my tests. The worst charging matchup for the Huscarls was Ironbreakers, at 1 of 10.
Are Huscarls with flails better on the charge or receiving one?
Charging. The Huscarls won 57% of their charges in my tests, against 20% of fights when the enemy charged them.