I don't know, toying with a Maro/Oathsworn list. What do you think? Any good or nah?

I like the idea of a super mobile and powerful unit of cav backed up by powerful archers. If they don't pay attention to the Cav, it will nail them. But if they get bogged down by cav and Lancer blockers, then the archers will do them in. Maro does his thing shooting for as much damage as possible and raising up more archers whenever he can.

im not sure if a 6 tray block is a good idea. witb single lancers your archers are wider = they almost always see whats in front of that lancer. with cav you accidentaly block LoF of your own archers.

You've put Master Crafted Weapons on the Archers but it's melee only.

54 minutes ago, Daverman said:

You've put Master Crafted Weapons on the Archers but it's melee only.

Dang it. I've done it again!

4 hours ago, Warlordus said:

im not sure if a 6 tray block is a good idea. witb single lancers your archers are wider = they almost always see whats in front of that lancer. with cav you accidentaly block LoF of your own archers.

The idea for the six-tray Oathsworn is twofold: first, that's the minimum I need to get the Warcrier in there, and second, they won't block. So much as they will run up the field and harass stuff. Putting pressure on the opponent is how they'll help protect archers, rather than as blockers.

Re: Archers: Tempered Steel is pretty good because I only really use shifts to maneuver my archers, and pair it with a rally, so we have a decent stock by the time combat comes around.

War Crier is an interesting idea for Oathsworn. I have used it with Spearmen to pretty good effect, powering up the Carrion Lancer's mortal strike ability. However, I have Rank Discipline on a 2x1 of Carrion Lancers so they can reroll for either surges or hits, depending on the target.

My biggest hesitation with Oathsworn is the blight. Either you rally it off at the beginning, wasting a turn, or they have to us War Crier to send the blight to an enemy - but only on a March action. This means you have to spend two turns not engaging in order to spread the blight, otherwise you charge and the enemy spends your blight to negate your attack. I made that mistake once with my Spearmen. But it's worse with the Oathsworn because it's 59 points of "engage, but not too quickly," whereas the Spearmen are only 35 points.

Now, I'm not saying it isn't impossible to work. I think there are enough dynamics at play that I'd have to see it on the table before I make my decision, but I wouldn't be very confident in pulling off a win.

...but there is something very satisfying about saying "Oath-broken Cavalry."

My problem with Maro is how expensive he is. His damage output is mediocre at that point price at best. 1 blue rune gives double hit with F-Dice, double hit on dial, brutal 1 = 8 damage. That isn't great for a 60 point unit. So you can bring in a unit? Oathsworn are the obvious choice, or they were until death knights came out. DKs outclass oathsworn. Better dial, better armour, better upgrades. Why bother with maro and oathsworn when you can just use death knights?

1 hour ago, Qark said:

My problem with Maro is how expensive he is. His damage output is mediocre at that point price at best. 1 blue rune gives double hit with F-Dice, double hit on dial, brutal 1 = 8 damage. That isn't great for a 60 point unit. So you can bring in a unit? Oathsworn are the obvious choice, or they were until death knights came out. DKs outclass oathsworn. Better dial, better armour, better upgrades. Why bother with maro and oathsworn when you can just use death knights?

Those are some compelling points. There are there reasons I take Violent Forces Ankaur Maro.

1) Versatility. Yes, he's primarily a damage dealer, but there are times when he is out of the battle, and can add trays to infantry, which is awesome.

2) Mortal Strikes. Yeah, with Brutal 1 there are many times that the "double hit" modifier is just as good as a mortal strike (if not better). But when you need to bypass armor, such as opposing Haw-thorns and Rune Golems, it's nice to be able to deal 2 mortal strikes at will.

3) Bringing in other factions' units. I'm fond of War Crier Spearmen to hand out blight. I think there can be other cool tricks to pull off by bringing in units from other factions. I'm excited to try Outland Scouts, but I don't know if they'll be any good.