KOW - Unit Options Within My Ratkin

 Now with the grand total of TWO games of v3 Kings of War under my belt, I am looking at my list and seeing what changes I would make.

Currently I am running two Hordes of Shock Troops and I am wondering whether to try an squeeze in a third - my poor v2 Blight are sitting on shelf squeaking loudly that they are being ignored.

A Horde of Shock Troops costs 220 points. A Plague Pot upgrade seems a no-brainer so the cost is 235 points.

To fund this from my current list the most obvious choice would be to replace a Horde of Warriors (with Pots) at 160 points and a Vermintide Regiment at 65 points. This means I'm 10 points short but I'm currently looking at whether I persevere with the Caterpillar Potion on a Shock Troop Horde. An alternative is too replace a Mutant Rat Fiend (220 points) with more Shock Troops and use some of my Caterpillar Points.

So to analyse the choice:

Warriors + Vermintide vs. Shock Troops

• Requires +10 points
  
• US agnostic - both US4
• One less drop
• Vermintide are a battery for Drain Life/Eat the Weak from the Brood Mother rather than a frontline unit - in a pinch with Nimble can threaten a flank (but limited damage potential - hits on 5s/9 attacks base - expect 1 wound vs. De 6 if in flank or 2 vs. De 5
  
• Warriors - 25 attacks at 5s - 8 hits whereas Shock Troops - 30 attacks at 4s - 15 hits and at base CS(1)
  
• Similar DE
• Shock Troops have +1 Nerve

At a headline level - an assuming good gameplay - the Shock Troop option appears to offer more hitting power. However the unknown is whether the reliance on a single Vermintide Regiment for recharge is too limiting.

MRF vs. Shock Troops

• Requires 15 points
  
• Replaces US1` with US4
• MRF has speed advantage of +1" - so 2" charge, a smaller footprint and has Strider
• MRF self-heals through Regen 5+ and Radiance (1 wound/turn) and can't be Wavered. Heals Vermintide an average 2 wounds/turn
  
• MRF - 10 attacks at 3s - 6.67 hits at CS(2) equates to ~3.5 wounds on De 6; The Shock Troops would do 5 wounds against the same target
  

The swap in this case is not really like for like - and as such is less compelling for me. I worry about the MRF's De 4 as it doesn't take much for it to be wounded on 2s and at the risk of a poor Nerve roll.

Wrap Up

When I look at the numbers I quite like the first option - swapping out the Warriors and Vermintide - and think as player ability improves it offers additional bang for buck. The issue is the loss of a second recharge battery.

What do you think?