Hordes and pile in

[Bosmer Nightblade]

 With the new matched play cost reduction for max sized units, I see people getting excited about hordes again, but i don't know why. It seems as if either a) people have forgotten about how pile in works, or b) are playing it wrong.

When you pile in, you must pile in towards the closest enemy model.

This means that actually, if AOS combat is being played correctly, most combats create awful unrealistic bottlenecks. Whilst there can be a few niche exceptions, even if you have a wide unit front, if your opponent has one model out in front a little closer than the rest, then all of your guys are suddenly having to zone in and cram towards that one model, rather than the rest of the unit. This means when played properly, most models won't have sufficient pile-in move to make the distance, so end up bottled behind the two or three of your models that managed to use their pile-in moves to get around the sides of the closest enemy model's base etc.

With hordes though, unless you're up against another enemy horde, you won't be getting your models in. You'll have to shuffle ever so slowly into that bottleneck.

Unless you can get a decent enough charge off and use the move to get your models positioned nicely. But if you roll low, or used most of your distance getting there, or you get charged yourself, then you're screwed. Combat goes on, your opponent removes models from the back, and your horde is stuck bunched behind the two or three of your guys who can actually get around that closest model.

It would be much better if gw would just make pile-in to be towards a unit they are in combat with, but unfortunately it's not.

[BaldoBeardo]

You kinda answered your own question - pile-in pays in dividends if you move and charge in a savvy fashion.

Or use spears.

[Bosmer Nightblade]

13 minutes ago, BaldoBeardo said:

You kinda answered your own question - pile-in pays in dividends if you move and charge in a savvy fashion.

Or use spears.

Sure. But if you're not a mobile unit (most hordes are going to be infantry, and most of those aren't quick), then you'll not always be in position to set yourself up. Even if you do get within 3 or 4 inches, you can still roll low and not really get anywhere. Or get charged yourself.

I just think hordes aren't going to have as great a time that we all hope with the way pile-in works.

[rokapoke]

38 minutes ago, Bosmer Nightblade said:

It would be much better if gw would just make pile-in to be towards a unit they are in combat with, but unfortunately it's not.

I think it would just be much different if pile-in was written that way. It would open the door for some new tactical choices, but close the door on some others. The current method encourages clever movement and charge positioning and allows for defensive positioning to create these kind of battlenecks. It is what it is.

[Arkiham]

Closest enemy model isn't always the closest model to the unit.