Recently, I've been trying to break down why units are costed the way they are. I've been doing my own analysis on this pretty much since the game came out, but I hit upon a unit comparison that I thought would be fun to bring to you guys for some discussion, Spearmen vs Oathsworn Cavalry. EDIT: For reference, here are the links to their cards/dials -> Spearmen | Oathsworn Cavalry

• Cost. Spearmen win here being roughly 10-14% cheaper depending on the size of the formations being compared.
• Abilities. Oathsworn obviously win here since they have Impact 1 in addition to the inspiration ability that both units share.
• Attack Profiles. Oathsworn win here again by a lot since they have an extra red die. And if you want a rough estimate that's a whopping 50% more dice than the Spearmen
• Dial. This is a little bit complicated but let's do some sub-points to break it down:

1. Movement. Oathsworn can charge from a greater distance and have more options in general for just plowing straight forward at various speeds; this is partly due to their March-2 bonus action. It seems significant that the two units do have the same initiative on their March-2 and March-3 actions. Spearmen, however, can reform earlier in the round (which means getting a defense modifier up or using a skill earlier). Spearmen also have a wheel modifier and a shift action which are both missing for the Oathsworn. In short, Spearmen can be a bit more wily and tend to change directions more easily, but Oathsworn can move much faster across the board and charge from further out.
2. Attack. These are equivalent for most intents and purposes. We'll go over the white modifier differences in another point.
3. Rally. Mostly equivalent.
4. Skill bonus action. This is one of the areas where Spearmen are much stronger than Oathsworn. The white skill icon is clearly better than the blue one that Oathsworn have. This lets Spearmen use all kinds of upgrades in creative ways that Oathsworn simply can't even when they can still technically equip them.
5. Defense modifier. The Oathsworn have the better defense modifier. However, it is worth noting that defense modifiers are generally better on infantry than cavalry when you look at the 'raw hp'. Spearmen go from 4 damage per tray to 8 whereas Oathsworn go from 4 to only 6 due to lower figure count. Overall, the Oathsworn still probably win on this point since they can use the modifier while using melee attack actions and especially the yellow melee attack action.

• Upgrades. I won't go into tons of detail with these as you can all see pretty well where the differences are. They're very similar units for upgrades, but the major difference for me is that there are far more upgrades for infantry than for cavalry. In fact, the cavalry classification on a unit is generally worse than infantry at this point in the game's life. It almost seems like a penalty.

So with all these points in mind (I'll add others if it turns out I missed some big ones), is there a unit that is better? What lessons can we learn about how the designers are placing the cost of units based off of this comparison?

These are interesting units to me because, on the surface, you see similar durability durability and comparable mobility on each but then the Oathsworn get an extra die and an extra ability for only 10% more points. After analyzing further, it's clear that Spearmen make up for some of this in generally having more upgrade options and having a good skill icon, but do they make up for it all the way? I'd love to hear what you guys think about the balance of these units!

P.S. I think they're balanced or at least very close to balanced so this is not a complaint thread. I'm just trying to get better at analyzing these things. I figured 2 similar units within the same faction is a pretty easy place to start.

I personally fine the spearmen are better with more trays and the Oathsworn are more ideal with 4 or less trays. But that is just my observation from the few games I have had. I can take a 30 point 4 tray of spearmen with Citadel Weapon master for 8 points or I can take a 34 4 tray of Oathsworn with Rank discipline for the same cost on a harder hitting platform that has no chance of losing the 3rd dice.

26 minutes ago, TallGiraffe said:

I personally fine the spearmen are better with more trays and the Oathsworn are more ideal with 4 or less trays. But that is just my observation from the few games I have had. I can take a 30 point 4 tray of spearmen with Citadel Weapon master for 8 points or I can take a 34 4 tray of Oathsworn with Rank discipline for the same cost on a harder hitting platform that has no chance of losing the 3rd dice.

That's certainly true and it illustrates the point that, in many cases, which unit is better will depend on what role you need filled. As you pointed out at small sizes, Oathsworn will often hit much harder for the cost! In order to get the maximum use out of the spearmen at smaller sizes, it might be better to take advantage of their versatile skill icon by picking things like Nerekhall Hexer, Uncontrolled Geomancer, or Dispatch Runner.

Rune Golem adding Threat.

That's all I need to say.

I agree i'd rather have my Oaths at 4trays and Spearmin bulked up.
Atleast for now. Never know, when we get cavalry command box that might change. Imagine Oaths with Marching Cornicen lol

They feel roughly the same atm to me, with one's weaknesses being balanced out by its strengths.

They have different roles and that's why it is hard to compare. They will do fundamentally things in your games so a one-for-one comparison whilst an interesting intellectual idea sometimes doesn't yield the results you might be looking for.

I'd find value on like-for-like comparisons such as Crossbows v Reanimate Archers v Deepwood Archers.