Edit: see my article in Eternal Vanguard for how I think Eternal Guard should be used, following the FAQ on Drilled.
After receiving some feedback that my article on Eternal Guard was perhaps too harsh, I thought I would look into how well they would perform in a 1:1 situation against a similarly pointed Infantry unit. In this case, I’m choosing Gors from the Beastmen army, something that we can assume every Eternal Guard (EG) unit would fight at some point, fluff-wise. I’ll look at what happens when EG get the charge, and then what happens when Gors do, and I’ll use a unit of 15 EG, the minimum number needed to get the full rank bonus. 15 EG costs 210 with full command, assuming no other upgrades – 225 with Shields. I’ll check to see if Shields make much difference also. For the same price (213 points), the Gors get 28 models with full command, so I’ll run the Gors 7 wide and 4 deep for maximum combat resolution. I’ll test them out with shields vs extra hand weapons (their two options).
Eternal Guard Charge
With I4 and Elven Reflexes, the EG will definitely be going first. They are running 5 wide in order to get their maximum combat resolution, so 10 models will get to attack, +1 extra attack for the champion. Hitting on 3s and Wounding on 5s, they’d get 2.45 wounds on average, which means 2 dead Gors. The Gors get to attack back with only 5 models out of their front rank, with extra hand weapons and a champion, so 11 attacks back hitting on 4s and wounding on 4s, so 2.31 wounds on average, killing 2 EG. If the EG have shields, this drops to 1.85 … still likely to take 2 casualties, just a little less probable.
The EG inflicted 2 wounds, are Close Order and have a banner, but now only have 1 full rank for rank bonus, so have a score of 5. The Gors inflicted 3 wounds, have a banner, are Open Order but are a Horde and can claim a rank bonus of +3, so have a score of 7. The EG will lose by two, and Fall Back in Good Order due to their Stubborn rule. They can use the reform as part of FBIGO to go wider, but they’d almost certainly lose any rank bonus then. Let’s assume they go to 6×2 in order to get all their attacks in on the next turn. However, the Gors will now count as having charged, giving them a Strength bonus (their special rule) and an Initiative bonus. Clearly, the EG will break on the next turn after being outnumbered more than 2:1.
If the Gors have shields instead of extra hand weapons, they’d drop to doing only 1 wound, which would make the combat a draw. Next turn the EG would attack first, and kill 2 more, and the Gor would kill 1 more and it would be a draw again. This would then come down to luck of the dice as to who would win.
I don’t think there’s much point in working out the result if Gors charge, clearly it will be in their favour. But what if we just need more Eternal Guard static combat resolution to work this out?
More Eternal Guard
If we have a unit of say 30 Eternal Guard, who are running 6 wide and 5 deep, (440 points with shields and FC) facing against a similarly pointed unit of Gors – I actually get 60 Gors at that price point, which is kinda ludicrous. Not sure I’d ever have a unit that big, but let’s do it for the sake of argument. Let’s go 10 wide and 6 deep, and say the EG get to charge.
13 attacks, hitting on 3s, wounding on 5s nets 2.91 wounds, so 3 Gors die. There will be 15 attacks back (7 models still alive in the Fighting Rank, extra hand weapons, plus champion), hitting and wounding on 4s, which will average 3.14 wounds (2.49 if they have shields), killing 3 EG. EG will still have their full rank bonus and being Close Order will have combat res of (3+3+1+1) 8. Gors will have (4+3+1) 8 also, so it will be a draw, or the EG might win by 1 if they have shields. However, this kind of attrition combat definitely favours the unit with more models, and if the Gors are the ones who charged, the EG are pretty much toast. They’ll go second taking 19 attacks (8 in base contact, 2 supporting, plus champion) and be wounded on 3s, resulting in 6.33 wounds, so only fighting back with 6 models and losing by a bunch.
Conclusions
Look, these are all contrived examples. In a real battle, there is terrain, other units to support, and so forth. However, knowing the math of combat against common foes helps every Wood Elf player make good choices about what their units can get engaged with. Taking on a similarly pointed infantry unit 1:1 is probably not a good plan for Eternal Guard, which again then puts me back to my conclusion that they are not optimal for the points value. Stubborn helps, shields help, but if my opponent took Eternal Guard, I’d see them as a juicy target of easy points.
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