SeaGuard worth it?

[RocketRollRebel]

I'm thinking the 8th Edition Rules might put Seaguard into a whole new level of awesome.

wow back from the dead! (I ended up with a Beastmen army anyway) But yeah I was thinking the same thing with the new rules.

[Freefall945]

Yes indeed. The 50 sea-guard mondo block (which, in 8th, means everyone attacks. Strike in 2 ranks as basic, 3 for spears, 4 for elf spears, 5 for being a ten-wide swarm) has seen some popularity as an option by 8th ed speculators. What would one use to protect the vulnerable flanks of such a juggernaught?

...How about two units of 20 sea-guard?

[Ulf]

A Seaguard horde of 50 would slaughter the Khorne-Marauder horde which was theorized somewhere else. With 51 Attacks, re-roll to hit (thanks to ASF and higher initiative) the Seaguard obliterates everything that is neither heavily armed nor blessed with good toughness - not even taking their bows into account.

Yea, they cost more than twice the points a marauder costs, but I can see them being worth at least three times as much.

Just saw that there is a new spell that allows units to use their morale value instead of strength when rolling to wound. LOL.

[Fr05ty]

Add to those 51 attacks with re-roll the ability to cast them Wissan's Wildforce, the Flaming Sword of Rhuin, Enchanted Blades of Aiban, Harmonic Convergence, or The Withering, Soulblight and those 51 attacks will down anything, nevermind those MoK Marauders, 51 attacks at Strength 3 re-rolling to hit, to wound and with armour piercing are powerful enough, and that isn't even the most powerful combination, 50 Seaguard and a wizard will project quite a lot of threat but will be deadly at any range...

By comparison, with the Enchanted Blades of Aiban cast on them, the Seaguard would kill ~20 MoK Marauders at long range and ~24 at short range, and that is just with the volley in a single shooting phase, you could kill them all in 2 rounds of shooting and if you consider close combat... well, it gets even worse for the marauders, holding and shooting would mean that the Seaguard could easily take care of 3 units of 50 MoK Marauders per 6 turns

[Kieranator K82]

GW's own Adam Troke seems to like Sea Guard. In this month's WD (367), one of the featured army lists uses:
- 50 Sea Guard with shields, musician, Sea Master and a standard bearer with the Lion Standard
- Two units of 20 Sea Guard with shields, musician, Sea Master and standard bearer
That forms the core of a 2500pt army dubbed "Alith Anar's Coastal Patrol."

[Fr05ty]

Yeah, Alith Anar is a good leader for the Seaguard, and if it could be done again, the Storm of Chaos Border Patrol being led by Aislinn would make a deadly army with the new Seaguard rules. A free shot at the beginning of the game would be great...

[bryce963]

Seaguard look awesome under the new rules, and one huge unit is enough to fill your core requirement. They can get 51 attacks, re-rolled, and 35 shots with the volley rules.

[Drakkan Vael]

"Horde" sized blocks of infantry are nice but do not forget that those 51 attacks are partly wasted if the enemy unit is considerably smaller, say 5 wide. In that case you'll only get 36. (7 fighters in the front rank and only the ones behind the engaged members (base contact) of the unit in the other ranks will get any supportive attacks. p. 48, 49 rulebook)

Second: You'll only get steadfast if you've got more ranks than your enemy. Smaller front size often comes with more ranks behind (p.54). In the above case a smaller unit might not only survive combat but may even win if they are tough and/or heavily armoured and your large infantry block might be forced to flee.

Do not overestimate horde-units.
I play high elves by the way.

[Drachenprinzen]

I regularly take a block of 20 LSG and have had mixed results, but I like their versatility compared to spearmen. With a 5x4 regiment and the volley rules, you have 16 shots (only 10 on a stand and shoot). Of course being high elves, if you somehow conjoined these with the high magic spell curse of arrow attraction, the enemy gets thinned out before ever reaching your spearmen with 21 attacks with ASF.

[Bean]

I'm thinking the 8th Edition Rules might put Seaguard into a whole new level of awesome.

I'm inclined to agree. As's discussed elsewhere in the thread, the 50-man seaguard unit, with the new reform and horde rules, is actually a very strong core choice.

Bolstered by an arch-mage or Teclis, a BSB, and backed up by repeater bolt throwers, Shadow Warriors, Reavers, and Dragon Princes (or other units that aggressively protect your flanks) can function as a very strong army, putting out a lot of good shots, good supporting magic, and a hard combat core.

Actually, White Lions are probably a good flank-anchoring unit. Somewhat more resilient to shooting than Swordmasters, significantly better damage than Phoenix guard, their Stubborn and Woodsmen abilities are also useful, since they make them better in small units and better on the flanks (where they're more likely to have to contend with forests.)