Brutes! Equipment and unit size

[Banglesprout]

Hey guys!

So I was wondering what people think is the best way to equip brutes, and what unit sizes people find work best?

Full disclosure - I've just finished my first 5 brute squads, and I've got a couple more boxes so gonna be building a unit of 10 next, but yeah I'm totally green... ?

*Ahem* I'll tackle my thoughts one at a time

Equipment

At what unit size (if any) does it make sense to switch from two brute choppas to jagged gore-hackas?

I'm assuming that it'll be uncontroversial that two choppas is the best way to go when running 5 brute squads?

Jumping up to 10 we've got a boss and 2 gore choppas, so we're talking 7 boys + boss who want to be at the front, if they've taken two choppas.

Given that they get extra attacks over the hackas l need at least two to be unable to make it before the hackas become the better option.

This feels right on the cusp for me - if I roll high for my charge, or if the unit is taken a couple of casualties it feels like two choppas are still the better option.

Once I move to bigger units I feel I'm firmly in hacka territory! 

So what's everyone else's experience, an I broadly right here, or way off the mark?

Size

So as I mentioned I'm going to start playing with a unit of 5 and a unit of 10.

Is anyone wildly enthusiastic about running larger units of 15 or even 20?

I can't help but feel that's too many eggs in one basket, especially combined with the boss on mawcrusher, who's already quite a basket himself ?

[BunkhouseBuster]

27 minutes ago, Banglesprout said:

I'm assuming that it'll be uncontroversial that two choppas is the best way to go when running 5 brute squads?

Jumping up to 10 we've got a boss and 2 gore choppas, so we're talking 7 boys + boss who want to be at the front, if they've taken two choppas.

Given that they get extra attacks over the hackas l need at least two to be unable to make it before the hackas become the better option.

This feels right on the cusp for me - if I roll high for my charge, or if the unit is taken a couple of casualties it feels like two choppas are still the better option.

Once I move to bigger units I feel I'm firmly in hacka territory!

You pretty much nailed it based on my experiences and anecdotal readings here on TGA.

One of the things that drew me to Brutes initially was that I could have a 2 inch range weapon mixed in my unit of 1 inch.  That way, I could have an actual "second rank" of guys who could fight.  Since Brutes are on 40mm bases, sometimes they are not able to get into range to attack, especially if measuring base-to-base instead of model-to-model.  On a unit of 15 and up, I would go with the Gore-hackas since then range is easier to get, and you can get more ranks of attacks in on the target.

Brute's only weakness is that they need better Bravery.  If an enemy starts focusing on them, then you start worrying about Battleshock tests.  For any unit of Brutes unit larger than 5, and especially at 15 and up, you will want to consider using Inspiring Presence on them.  Otherwise, a big unit of Brutes can chew through pretty much anything in the game.  Really, the only thing I have ever struggled to defeat with my Brutes is a buffed-up Bastiladon (because why not field a 2+ Re-rollabe armor save that ignores all Rend?).

[Fungrim]

So this is a topic that will become increasingly contentious as the new meta takes hold..

Used to be you wanted a 10-15 Brute unit as standard, and  then a bunch of smaller 5-man Brute units. The former of course would benefit from the 2" reach as you'd make up for the one less attack by having more bodies in range. However...

There's a lot of folks talking horde meta, which to be honest, might not end up being as prevalent as some think. But regardless, what does seem to be  gathering quite a bit of momentum, is an anti-horde meta (weirdly enough, an antidote before the virus has even caught hold....). So lots of talk about infantry-killing entities (eg. Gaunt Summoner, Decimators etc). In this instance, a bigger unit of Brutes is more vulnerable to attacks than a small unit.

Gaunt Summoner for instance, d6 for every model within range, 4+ = mortal wound. So for every Brute in the unit you're allowing that Gaunt an extra d6 shot at dishing out mortal wounds. Stats-wise, the spell has a 50/50 chance at pinging off 1 whole Brute in a 5-man unit, whereas it will more than likely take of 1-2 Brutes in a 10-man unit.

With this in mind MSU Brutes does look like the better way to go. But it's so hard to predict which way the game is going at this point. Personally, I'm still keeping in a 10-man unit of Jagged Gore-Hacka Brutes, not only because it's wonderful, but because it makes your opponent think twice about putting everything into the Maw-Krusha.

[Banglesprout]

2 hours ago, Fungrim said:

There's a lot of folks talking horde meta, which to be honest, might not end up being as prevalent as some think. But regardless, what does seem to be  gathering quite a bit of momentum, is an anti-horde meta (weirdly enough, an antidote before the virus has even caught hold....).

 

2 hours ago, Fungrim said:

With this in mind MSU Brutes does look like the better way to go.

I love that you're talking about a counter selection to a counter selection to a meta which may never happen 

[Sangfroid]

Dont forget smashing & bashin a big unit of brutes and a Mawkrusha could double team to get this allegience ability working and end up not take as much damage back in return