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Best shooting unit in the game


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Soo let's have a short discussion about the best shooting unit. Which do you think is best? Just as a single warscroll and then also with all abilities and synergies with other units, allegiance abilities, spells, and so on.

Let's see what you come up with :)

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10 minutes ago, B.C.D. said:

Soo let's have a short discussion about the best shooting unit. Which do you think is best? Just as a single warscroll and then also with all abilities and synergies with other units, allegiance abilities, spells, and so on.

Let's see what you come up with :)

With just the raw Warscroll, I would consider Irondrakes as one of the best shooting units in the game.

Unlike many great missile units, Irondrakes have a great save which even gets better against missile weapons.

Their damage output is astonishing, even when not buffed by units like runelords or the city of sigmar allegiance abilities.

 

Edited by Skreech Verminking
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There's different areas to consider, such as best damage per point, general effectiveness etc.

I'll throw in Freeguild Handgunners as a contender for their general utility and low cost. While they're not a heavy hitter compared to other top shooters, their ability to screen and shoot incoming charging units to mitigate enemy damage is very useful. They are in a unique spot, being able to screen while creating area denial from their threat, and being a pain to charge against. This combined with being Battleline makes for a compelling choice, at least in the top 5.

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For me it's the Grundstock thunderers. You can calculated what unit does the most point for point damage. (flamers or salamanders would be my guess. Or maybe the new Lumineth archers with their MW). 

But I think the context of the army is so important. And Thunderers have got their role and narrative exactly right. They now are THE marines of AoS. The Ironclad does do a lot of work... but the thunderers improve it so much by playing their role. They are good on their own but that synergy makes them mobile, survivable, damage dealers, and 120pts for what they bring, they are quite cheap as well. 

But I only considered units I actually played a couple of times. 

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I'd also mention Scourgerunners. Great, easily buffable firepower and they have some insane mobility on their side. And they're extremely cheap for what they do (and will be for next two weaks, because it's highly unlikely their cost doesn't go up in GHB ;))

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Got a few that would make the list! Each being situationally the best. 
Handgunners
Ungor Raiders
Irondrakes
Flamers/Starborne Salamanders
Gyrocopters with steamguns

Just by themselves I find that the basic handgunners are useful being a good screen(Stand and shoot and cheap enough to be expendable) and since they are unconditional battleline they are also easy to include in an army, They also synergise well with buffs and they are easy to buff, just  bring a freeguild general and you get alot more dakka on up to 3 units for merely one command point (Although this makes them more unwieldy as they are unable to move and keep their bonuses)

large unit of ungor raiders, they are cheap, get to scout move, slap em into a battalion with 6s exploding hits, make sure they are 30+ for rerolls and ambush them unto the board... they are excellent at killing off support character but also softening up targets for your bestigor (once had a 30 man unit bring a terrorgheist down! they are also great in smaler units for objective play and screening stuff. 

Irondrakes... Probably the most scary shooting unit in the game when all their tech falls into place... 2 shots each with loads of ways to buff em with +hit, +wound and extra rend. And when fired at a monster a trollhammer torpedo is super scary (Once did 11 wounds on a enemy monster). These lads are probably one of the best problem solving units in the game. 

The reason I put flamers and starborne sallies in the same entry is that they pretty much do the same thing, They teleport and light something on fire. Sure, the sallies can do this with their allegiance while the flamers need their changehost. 
(Coalesced sallies are also great... although they are abit too fighty for me to include as a "shooting" unit as they excel at both ranged and melee)

180 points, Fortunate son booming on the speakers, Runelord in greywater fastness buffing these lads to 2+ to hit with extra rend. Gyrocopters become super scary against larger units and I suspect we will see more of them in cities lists to deal with a skink/mortek/lumineth/horrors heavy meta. They do work in every city, but I found they are exceptional in Tempest eye and Greywater. 

Honourable mentions: 
...Cygor? Dispelling stuff causes 1 mortal wound... Enough to kill a lumineth unit leader ^^ More meme-ey than good. 

Hurricanum... More a support piece... But... Comet of cassadora/chain lightning in the Hero phase and then the storm in the shooting phase makes it a potent dmg dealer.

Also should mention I haven't played enough Kharadron Overloads to comment on their boats. They do seem abit lack luster for what you pay for them though. The 2+MW repeating Rocket Dr. Robotnic Artifact seems fun though. 

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While a lot of people here mention Irondrakes, you should not forget about Sisters of the Watch.
 

While Irondrakes are more tanky and have a much better potential for buffing, Sisters are faster, have a bit better range, better damage(if compared unbuffed) and overwatch. This does not really make them better, both units are very good, just in different ways. Irondrakes are more about combining multiple buffs on them, while with Sisters you usually just slap +1 to hit and that's it. So they are kinda easier to use and give a better return when you have no buff investment.

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3 hours ago, Zeblasky said:

While a lot of people here mention Irondrakes, you should not forget about Sisters of the Watch.
 

While Irondrakes are more tanky and have a much better potential for buffing, Sisters are faster, have a bit better range, better damage(if compared unbuffed) and overwatch. This does not really make them better, both units are very good, just in different ways. Irondrakes are more about combining multiple buffs on them, while with Sisters you usually just slap +1 to hit and that's it. So they are kinda easier to use and give a better return when you have no buff investment.

Also they can ambush without needing to be on the board during the herophase and get their +1 Hit buff!
Good shout!

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To me the Stormcast Judicators are pretty solid and responsible for some good "Shootcast" metas.

The Skybolt archers win it with decent range, power, durability and their mix of battleline and Stormcast's ally list + Cities of Sigmar buffs expands how versatile they are from objective holders to effective ambushers.

Won't win shoot-outs with Grundstoks and the like but they can bring the storm to any battlefield situation they ride it into.

 

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51 minutes ago, JackStreicher said:

Tbh... arrow boys xD sad but true. The pts/effectiveness ratio of them is insane

This. Bonesplitterz shooting can be crazy. Easy access to +1 hit and stacking exploding 6s effects combined with 3 shots per orruk at a low cost is crazy. Throw in their battalion for hero phase shooting and 20 arrow Boyz can rather easily throw out 120 shots per battleround on 4+/4+,with 2 extra hits on 6s and rend 1 against monsters. Put them in drakfoot clan and they ignore "feel no pain". 

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On 7/4/2020 at 2:37 AM, Eorek said:

Honourable mentions: 
...Cygor? Dispelling stuff causes 1 mortal wound... Enough to kill a lumineth unit leader ^^ More meme-ey than good. 

That’s such a cool interaction 😂

is it really the champion or the unit? Like with evocators?

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43 minutes ago, Aloth_Corfiser said:

Yes the Vanari Unit Leaders are the Wizards while the whole Unit is above a certain Model threshold.
Wardens and Sentinels: 5 or more Models 
Dawnriders: 3 or more Models

And just to double check. Both are a requirement? 
so kill the champion. And no longer wizard. Get below the number, no longer a wizard. 
haha cygor being the (porential) anti meta choice. Love this game 😂

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What about Skyre Acolytes? lol https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/AoS_Skaven_Warscrolls_Skryre_Acolytes.pdf

They can be in 30mans and can get buffed from many sources in Skaven, Sparks for +1D (they already are D3), re-rolls hits and wounds, spells, etc.. thats 30 attacks 4+/4+/-2/D3+1 with run and shoot, re-roll all hits and wounds. It can also teleport between holes.

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Maybe another contender:

Tzaangor Skyfires: Granted they have not many Attacks but that 16" Movement (flying) with 24" Range has a lot of potential. Despite this they seem to be a perfect hybrid of Objective-Grabber and ultimate threat Range psychological weapon.

Not a contender but the Stegadon Skytreak Bow has given me Nightmares: 8" Movement   24" Range 3 Attacks 3+ 3+ -1 Rend    3 Damage    :D  
 

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