Ok, so I've been picking the brains of @FranquesEnbiens about this, and while I trust him more than y'all, I thought I'd ask about your thoughts anyway ?

For those of you fielding Maro and using his ability to take a non-unique unit from another faction, what unit are you taking, and why? At the moment, I'm vastly disappointed that the Scions don't seem to do much for Waiqar because I couldn't wait to paint dead trees to add to my army...

@JGrand can probably give you some ideas as well, since until recently he has been playing Maro quite a bit.

I've taken Flesh Rippers... they are fun, but I still need to tame them. They like to move too quick.

I'm going to try Spined Threshers next.

Hehe, Spined Threshers are being tried out upon their arrival, as it turns out.

I used Spined Threshers, a 2x1 to be exact. They seem too good for their cost. The blight does slow them down a round, but that just makes them move like the rest of your Waiqar army, so it doesn't hurt all that much.

I'd agree with bringing an Uthuk unit. Spined Threshers are a mistake at their cost, so you can't really go wrong there. Flesh rippers are interesting due to their speed, but remember, you can't take army-specific upgrades (so no Dead Sprint). They also don't add a ton that DeathKnights can't already do to an extent, and I'm not super crazy about blue dice.

I've kicked around the ideas of Latari archers and Scions as well. A single Scion doesn't make a ton of impact, and the weird dial seems out of place in Waiqar. I could see some validity to six trays of Latari archers with tempered steel (maybe?) and close quarters targeting (almost definitely).

I’m just working my way around in my Waiqar revisit to Ankaur as a hero, not upgrade. So I can’t back my guesses with data yet.

Just knowing what I’ve done with them, I really think Rippers will be the best. Even a 2 tray. Threshers shouldn’t disappoint either.

I dont see any Latari units being worth it. I think Death Knights do more in Waiqar than Leonx, Darnati suffer compared to Reanimates when they don’t get infantry command, Derpwoods don’t cause blight. I do see some value in the Scion, just not enough. The potential to drop stun or immobilize tokens on enemy units so that you can actually catch them seems useful.

I can see a 3x1 of Xbows from Daqan if you are looking for raw damage from your range units. 86ish points is a lot in ranged though. Albeit to put up a LOT of ranged damage.

For pure damage between the two, I would probably actually take the Deepwood Archers. Comparing a six tray Deepwood with Tempered and CQT (48 points) vs. a three tray Crossbows with Tempered and Rank (34 points):

Deepwood expected hits with rerolls (Tempered/No Tempered): 8.64/5.64

Crossbow expected hits with rerolls (Tempered/No Tempered): 9.03/6.03

Deepwood stays there until they take 12 damage, Crossbows stay there until they take 5 (protected and 4 dudes).

At three trays left (half dead), Deepwood damage is (Tempered/No Tempered): 8.25/5.25

At 1.5 trays (half dead), Crossbows damage is (Tempered/No Tempered): 6.02/4.02

A quick look at melee (not that you want this): Deepwood with CQT is the same (8.64/5.64) at full strength down to half dead, Crossbows at full is 5.25/2.25, at half dead is 3.5/1.5

So while the top end is a little higher on the Crossbows (but not by much), and you pay 14 points more for the Deepwood, they will be a bigger threat for longer. I would also argue that the Deepwood dial is superior, at least in terms of movement, and it is easier to keep them at range and shoot.

I still think Spined Threshers are probably what I would do - there is nothing in the game with better offense at 28 points.