So I guess there is consensus here in community tahat Ventala 2*2 with Maegan and fire rune on top can be a good deal, being able to shot and move with both attacks enhanced by maegan.

I was wondering recently which of the many options for training would you recommend: lay of the land, CQT, flank fire or hedge shroud?

Those options make for many different armies, and each has some benefits. My last choice would be rank discipline, as I usually just run from blank rather than gamble for maximum damage output

For me it's really depended on terrain.

Flank fire is amazing some games and useless others. Lay of the land is hard to quantify, you don't really remember when it saved you because it's effect is much more passive.

CQT seems nice, hedge shroud means you aren't being all sneaky nimble like you should.

Can never go wrong with rank discipline.

What I've found myself doing more often than not; is skipping the skill altogether and spending the points on other units.

I've seen a person or two mention it, but I've not seen what I'd call a consensus. The Latari Archers just look a lot better for Fire Rune/Maegan, and I've played the 2x2 Archers with that formation several times. You don't lose the die on the main attack for D4/D5 attacks, and your dial and playstyle is much more attuned to triggering both attacks. For the double attack to trigger on Ventala, you're now waiting all the way to I8. Ventala can already late attack with their secondary dial, so Fire Rune is not adding anything there, whereas it definitely adds something to a regular archer moving up and being able to Fire Rune a turn before it can deliver its main attack. In short, I'd expect a 2x2 Archer/Fire Rune/Maegan to perform much more consistently than the Ventala equivalent, though both of them can be extremely good in the right circumstances.

Now, one combination that I do think is extremely good is Maeghan in the Ventala 2x2 or 2x3 all by herself.

Why i like fire rune with Maegan on ventala is ability to roll two dice Red and Blue with quite Decent chance to have two or three hits with some surges as bonus

I would think close quarters targeting if you are gonna try for fire rune ventala. They can’t double tap until initiative 8.

But yeah, Maegan applies to both shots and the added die to Fire Rune would be scary with 4 Unstable showing. If you run that and a Fire Rune deepwoods, find the points to get Malcorne’s.

Meagan in Ventala with fire rune has the highest damage output for a fire rune attack (14). However, it's really hard to pull off both attacks more than once or twice a match. Due to the move/shoot ventala dial, waiting until i8 to double tap isn't the easiest thing to do in most games, so most often you do one or the other. This also is not a bad thing as it allows ventala to move earlier and still shoot.

LotL or Rank are your best choices if going for a squirrelly unit, whereas Hedge is the best upgrade for them, providing you have Malcorne and a rally system. CQT is only if you want to try double tapping at i8 while engaged.

7 hours ago, Jukey said:

Meagan in Ventala with fire rune has the highest damage output for a fire rune attack (14). However, it's really hard to pull off both attacks more than once or twice a match. Due to the move/shoot ventala dial, waiting until i8 to double tap isn't the easiest thing to do in most games, so most often you do one or the other. This also is not a bad thing as it allows ventala to move earlier and still shoot.

LotL or Rank are your best choices if going for a squirrelly unit, whereas Hedge is the best upgrade for them, providing you have Malcorne and a rally system. CQT is only if you want to try double tapping at i8 while engaged.

I've had a pretty easy go of the double tap, but I also run it with 6 solo trees for immobilize madness.

Max damage is correct, but also assumes that you've got the R1 die bonus on both attacks.

I ran some numbers really fast on average damage.

Double attacking Maegan/Ventala: 10.12 (no rune manipulation). 13.57 (rune manipulation)

Double Archer Fire-Rune/Maegan: 8.76 and 10.52

Except the archers will always do those numbers regardless of range. So the question becomes: can you set up shots that reflect your ideal engagement range depending upon which of the two you are playing? And in a contest between one player with the combo on Archers and the other on Ventala, it will come down to player skill in setting up the shots that favor their side more.