Battle Shock test and Big Crusader Squads

[Rustican]

Anyone think 20 man crusader squads will become viable in 10th, now that Battle Shock tests only happen when a unit is below half strength?   Seems to benefit larger squads over MSUs.  Vehicles seem to be getting tougher in 10th but i'm still hoping that foot slogging is still viable.  

[Tokugawa]

Blast still exists in 10th. New oath of moment rules also don't suggest to invest too much on 1 unit.

[Khornestar]

Maybe not multiple units of 20, but I can see how one brick supported by an apothecary would be worthwhile for holding the center etc. 

[Medjugorje]

maybe there is still the one use stratagem "fearless"... then it will be fine I think.

[Karhedron]

Too early to tell at this stage without knowing what else triggers off unit size. The fact that Ld tests are no longer modified by the number of casualties is also a point in favour of large squads. One downside though is that if a larger squad does fail its Ld test, that is a larger amount of points that has been hampered for a turn.

 

Overall I think that the balance is shifting in favour of larger squads. Characters can only buff one squad now rather than having a bubble. A large squad gets more benefit from the buff and also provides better protection for the character.

 

Big units still have downsides such as BLAST but I think it is more balanced now. In 8th/9th it was rarely worth taking anything other than MSU. 

[Tokugawa]

"Blast changed - they roll one additional attack dice for every 5 models in the target unit. So, if you're firing at a 30-model unit with a Blast weapon that fires d6 shots, you'll get d6+6 shots total"

 

if this report from warhammer fest is accurately true, then blast weapons could fire significantly more attacks against units with 15+ models.

 

e.g. a humble sentinel plasma cannon is "blast d3". If it keep the same profile in 10th, it could fire d3+4 shots(5~7) against a 20 men units, instead of 3 shots in 9th. It is an up to 133% improvement…