Hey all, I'm a Daqan player looking to get myself some of that sweet sweet ranged action. Now obviously, my question is a little bit skewed in terms of release dates, but let's not get distracted with that. My question is, are you better off taking Heavy Crossbows or Deepwood Archers?

For 31 points you can take a 3x1 unit of Crossbows with Rank Discipline (Precise 1), rolling a red and a blue at range. For 30 points you can have a 2x2 unit of Elves which come with Precise 1 already, and using Hawthorne you can turn it into a 4x1, rolling two blues.

I recognize that in order to make the Elves work you need to have both Daqan heroes on the field, but at this point of the game that seems to be a given for me anyway. There's no difference in terms of money cost; both set ups would require buying two unit boxes.

Discuss!

I'm a fan of the 4x1 archers. I'll be the first to admit I'd run the archers over crossbows for flavor's sake alone, but I do think the archers are better regardless. Greater threat, wider firing arc, champion slot if you want to go dispatch runner. I like them with just tempered steel and CQT in case they do get engaged (I think fire rune is better in the 3x2 latari with maegan). I always run a blocking force in front of them to keep them safe (4x1 also helps a lot with that in ensuring you can still get LOS on an enemy engaged with your blocking force), but the crossbows suffer from the same single rank vulnerability so that's even money.

while the crossbows are a bit sturdier with protected and a better melee, I also think their range 1-3 allure can be a death trap, whereas the archers shift ability can allow you to manipulate range a lot better.

Win to the archers here. I haven't proxied crossbows, so this is just my experience so far with archers and analysis on crossbows.

Also I don't have a problem at all with having to run both Kari and Hawthorne to make archers work, so that's not a negative to me ether. Keep them light so you have room for your Spears to block and Cav to hammer, and I think it's a strong list.

Well I think the crossbows have a higher potential damage while the deepwoods have better consistency comparing the two.

Crossbows off the bat get access to Daqan only upgrades and figures. Stuff like 'Forged in Battle', 'Know Your Enemy', Piercing Strike, and all the figure upgrades from the command pack. Deepwoods only have neutral upgrades though they have some good options with Tempered Steel, Fire Rune, Champion upgrades at a cheaper cost, and banner upgrades. And while the 4x1 formation is great, it comes at the cost of bringing both of the current heroes.

Elves have the edge on damage, and their shift is likely to be more use than the mortal strike from the crossbows. Four more wounds should at least cover protected, and the elf dial IS better, though it often won't matter. Crossbows have faction for upgrades, which is pretty sweet and only gets sweeter with time.

So if you're taking both heroes, they're probably the better call, but that's a hundred squishy points of restrictive list building. Not for me.

I would prefer Kari in a unit (of scouts preferably) and then just take crossbowmen. Crossbowmen with Wind Rune would be great at keeping in that 1-3 range and having more mobility to move around and stay out of trouble. In this case, they'd be your high armor snipers. Range 1-3, 9 damage max, and a mortal wound.