8th Ed. how many saurus spear attacks?

hi,

I was just wondering how many attacks does the extra rank of saurus spears get.

Does the extra rank count as supporting attacks (so max 1 attack) or does it count as a normal attack (so 2 attacks as per profile).


So doeas a five wide saurus unit with spears get 20 attacks or 25?

thx

bork

 

They count as supporting attacks, so only 1 each.

A unit 5X4 would get 10 for the first rank, 5 for the second, and 5 for the third for a total of 20 attacks.

 

thank you

now i can do some hw vs spear math

 

For BorkBork, before you get too excited about spear math, they tend to only every make sense in non-horde units unless you are fielding a massive (50+) horde of saurus. Since saurus strike after everything except GW, most of the rear rank is generally dead before anything else happens. For a unit of 20-25 saurus, this is fine for a few rounds of combat since you will still be getting the 3rd rank of attacks. For a horde of ~40, there is already a 3rd rank attacking and spears would theoretically give a 4th (only on non-charge rounds so they are not present if you charge). HW & S saurus tend to make better hordes for this reason and they are both cheaper and get a 6+ parry save. Just some food for thought before you commit the time and money to pile of spear saurus.

 

The problem with spears and saurus is that they are costed for the last edition where spears were marginally better than HW & Sh. In this edition HW+Sh are better in most circumstances, plus are cheaper.

In every math hammer I have done same points cost of HW saurus were always better than spear saurus, in most places same number or HW saurus were better too. Spear saurus only did better against smaller units of weaker opponents, HW saurus got comparatively better against bigerr, tougher and/or more elite units.

 

Mathhammer aside, having now played a bunch of games with both I am firmly in the hand weapon camp. The extra points from spears can be better used elsewhere, at best the difference in performance is minimal at worse the hand weapon ones are better. Again, its not much, but with the points saved I bought an extra TG, nearly two. Worth it.