Aren''t Sally's absolute beasts with the new template rule? I mean, wow. what i am wondering is, what do you guys think is the best way to deploy them? I have 4. Should I be going units of 3 and 1? or 2 and 2? Is it worth having 3 or 4? also, would a unit of 2 negate rank bonus because they are monsters, or does the skirmisher rule ovverride that and they never rnegate rank bonus?
Yep, salamanders are amazing now. I would personally spread them out, maybe 2 units of 2 or just go all individual. That gives you a lot more flexibility, your opponent a lot more targets, and you can spread them on your battle line or still choose to focus them together. I'm pretty sure as skirmishers, they cannot negate ranks.
Yea, Strewart is right. No rank negation for you. I would take them a unit of 2 and a unit of 3. Put one on each flank or both on the same flank. Try to deploy them last to get them in a good area. Another thing to remember when they get into close combat, If you take an extra handler (and you should if your points will allow it). All your handlers get to attack whatever you are fighting. Since the handlers cannot be targeted, they are suprisingly good (I have found). Sure, WS2 is almost a joke, but hey, one wound and they pay for themselves (and then get eaten).
Depending on the points you are playing, if you are under 3k then you can't go all individual as you are limited to 2 units of each type of rare. In this case I would run 2 groups of 2. If you are playing 3k+ then you are allowed up to 4 units of each type of rare. And in this case I would run 4 individuals. Salamanders benefit in groups because it only takes 1 handler to keep all of them in line, but the downside is they all have to target the same unit. I personally wouldn't have a group of 3 because I like choice in my attacks and more then 2 at a unit can sometimes be a waste. So I would recommend running them as individuals if possible because they can always attack the same units if you want to. In my games at around 2250-2500 I almost always run 2 groups of 2 salamanders. And yes it is definitely worth having 4 of them.
Sorry to take this a bit off topic, but this relates to something I ran into recently and it may help the original poster with regards to how to take multiple salamanders. I was wondering about this in my last battle. I'm still really new to Warhammer (used to play 10 years ago, coming back now) and don't know all the ins and outs. When I played, I had two salamanders in one unit facing a a unit of dark elf spearmen and a unit of witch elves right next to each other. My first salamander spit at them, trying to catch both units at an angle. Shot a bit far, only hit the spearmen. The damage killed a few and they panicked and fled. The rules say to resolve each salamanders attacks before going on to the next one. So after they fled, I had the second salamander spit at the witch elves. My opponent didn't have any problems with this, but he also may not have been any more knowledgeable about the rules. I saw it as I wasn't really targeting a specific unit, since I was trying to hit both anyway it was more of targeting an area. Did we do that wrong? Did we resolve too much of the first attack too soon (should they have not fled yet?) Should I have been declaring the shots against specific units? Any page references would be great.
The way that I would have handled it was to go ahead and shoot with the second Salamander before they do the panic test (you only test once per turn, so that would make sense).
Is everyone in agreement that groups of 3 are wasteful? I was thinking about running a group of 3 and a group of 2 in 1500 pt games. and 2 groups of 3 in 2000 pt games. Is that too much? I mean - overkill is good. ANd making them more resilient to ranged attacks seems good too.
I think in a higher point game (3k) that 2 groups of 3 would be good. In less than 3k games, I would probably stay at 2 groups of 2.
At 3k I would say 3 groups of 2 is still better then 2 groups of 3. Groups of 3 can be overkill, for the price of the third salamander you can get another unit of skirmishers or chameleons that would probably be better then a 3rd shot at the same target. The main reason is that 2 shots should significantly reduce the units in a target, so the third shot is not nearly as effective. If you are facing a lot of horde units, then 3 might be ok, but it is much more situational then 2 are.
You do know that all the shooting of a unit is done at the same time right? So you would first throw 3 tmplates, see how many hits are scored and then roll to wound and so on.
Incorrect, with Salamanders the rules state you resolve each shot completely before continuing with the next.
I can't begin to tell you how much I love my sallies in 8th. At the last tournament I attended 4 of them (2 groups of 2) almost single-handedly destroyed an O&G force. I always try to get them on the flank, and have reduced a unit of 50 halberdiers to below 15 in one round of shooting. In fact they are so good now I'm considering running 1 group of 2 simply because of comp, and in friendly games I often don't show up with any.
When I am being competitive I try to have as many salamanders in as many groups as possible. The most important thing is the flexibility of multiple groups. Bigger groups make salamanders more effective in HtH and spread the impact of misfires but lose out on the ability to spread the joy of salamanders across the battlefield. @3k my favourite is 2x2 plus 3x2 with no extra handlers to just make the 750 25% limit. But only when the opponent is happy with this, I tend to make the rest of the army more "fun" to compensate...
Six one half dozen the other on running 2 or 3 Sallys in a unit. I personally run 2, but I could see the potential bonus having 3 and using them to deny a flank. Try both and formulate your own opinion, either was they are fun to play, I don't leave home with out them. good luck.