Salamanders in Review, Part 1

The Salamander list is pretty widely held to be one of the worst factions in KoW, prior to the CoK 17 changes that just recently happened.  They suffer from units that are very good allrounders, in a game that tends to promote units with singular focuses.  The infantry are solid, but feel 10-15 points overcosted compared to units with similar statlines. 

This article will be the start of a series delving into the list of Salamanders, and how the list is balanced both internally and externally.  I will do my best to avoid 1 to 1 comparisons with other lists, as I know they aren't balanced that way, however I may use some to provide perspective on how I feel about the unit.  At the end of each unit review, there will be a grade using the good old letter metric.  The grade is just a rough guideline to how I think the unit performs and is balanced internally. 

(Basically what a salamander general looks like)

This first article will be about the unlocking units in the salamander list, so infantry, large infantry, and (in the case of 25mm armies) infantry that happen to have speed 8.  The irregular and troop only choices will be looked at in the next article.


Exclaimer: I am in no way a super expert, and these are opinions that are definitely tinted by my playstyle.


So to kick off this review, we start with the Salamander Primes.

These are your basic ho hum infantry, and right from the start you can see how the salamander list pays for its overall good statline.  230 points for a horde of cs1 infantry, with solid def, okay att, average nerve, and pathfinder.  The problem here though, is they don't really do much without some supporting pieces.  I personally find brew of haste to be necessary, as speed 5 doesn't cut it for a unit that is on cavalry trays.  A Horde of these guys can perform pretty well, they will take a hit from almost any unit save a stampede, but this horde also costs almost as much as them.  The swap to cs 2 for def 4 is solid on the troops, but super risky on hordes and even regiments, due to the cost of them and the ease they can be shot off the table. 

Overall, C+ for troops and regiments, B for Hordes. 

Salamander Unblooded

Oh boy, cs1 shield walls, for a moderate price hike.  I don't think I could ever see the horde getting play, when for 40 points you can get the pathfinder, +1 def, and +1 nerve of the primes, but the regiment version of these guys are pretty good for cheap unlocks.  If you are going to try to run an msu style build Unblooded could have potential, but you still pay a lot for cs1, and 12 att with def 4 and below average nerve is pretty terrible.  Troop choice is solid chaff however, and about as cheap as you can get them in this list.

Overall D+ for regiment and hordes, C for troops

Ancients

Prior to the CoK 17 changes, these guys would make a strong case for best regiment in the army.  -/17 nerve is awesome, cs1 on a 3+ att unit is great, def 5 is good.  Only downside is speed and attack number, but if you wanted to run a regiment swarm, you couldn't really go wrong with these guys. they will likely stick through anything that hits them beyond spike rolls and heavy cav, however as you'll see later, when we get to the one infantry unit that got a bump from Cok 17, these guys just don't have the uuumph comparatively.  They are still solid as wing units, flanking your horde of primes, although that means you can't really take advantage of the pathfinder on the primes.  Troops of these guys are again really good (if you're catching on the theme is that the costing gets better the smaller the unit) and really need to be dealt with as 20 attacks in the flank hurt regardless of the target.  they also can rock the def 4 for cs 2 train, which is pretty handy for troops.  170 for a 12 attack, speed 5 unit however drags this regiment down an awful lot.

Overall C for regiments, B for troops

Ceremonial Guard

Another unit that I really liked prior to the CoK changes, not because its particularly good, but because the rest of the infantry was pretty garbage at the regiment level (save ancients).  It's a spear unit, so it avoids the 12 att curse that the rest of the foot infantry have to suffer with, and that's basically it's selling point.  Phalanx is in no way, shape, or form worth 20 points more than the pathfinder on Primes, but you get 3 extra attacks and that's got value.  Troops of these guys aren't even worth talking about, 110 points for phalanx and no actual benefit, when you can take a 10 point discount for primes, or 10 point upgrade to ancients.  This unit is one I think desperately needs a nerve bump to justify the cost, making these guys the true in between of ancients and primes, 15/17 nerve would justify the cost again imo. 

Overall C- for regiments, D- for troops (pretty close to an F for internal balance)

Ghekkotah Warriors

So I'm gonna rate these guys for each size, as I feel they all have their own merits and values, and rolling it into one is very unfair to the unit.  I really like Ghekkotah warriors, 70 point troops with healthy attacks are good if they make it to combat, and means they can fight off other chaff if they get the chance.  100 point regiments, while worse in stats than shield wall, have 20 attacks and vicious means they can usually punch through a few wounds.  165 point hordes are really solid, they will die, but typically won't get one shotted by a whole lot of stuff, and 30 attacks on the back swing is really good.  With a Herald or Mage Priest behind to give bc, it could really put some hurt.  Overall I feel like this unit got costed right, and theres a solid justification for running only these guys as your foot infantry if you're going to even run foot infantry.  The only downside to these guys is if you get matched up against the 6+ def elemental armies, you might as well be hitting them with wet tissues.  But outside of that corner case, these guys are perfectly valid units. 

Overall, B- for Troops, C+ for regiments, B+ for Hordes. 

Fire Elementals

Fire Elementals are almost certainly going to get an article devoted to them alone, and i'll go into more detail on why they annoy me, and how I feel they can be a pretty big crutch for the list in general.  So the good, they have more than 12 attacks, you get horde unlocks for 200 points, they are cs 2, they shamble! (enter the crutch mode) The bad, they cost 200 points for a -/17 unit, and they will get hit hard.  Def 5 is pretty good, but it's pretty common to see a for of cs3 or cs + tc 3 in a lot of lists, and one good cav hit will put them into kill range.  In my experience, elemental lists are a one trick pony, and if the opponent can counter the trick or the scenario involves loot (which removes your ability to be surged) they get pretty weak.  Overall they are good units, but I doubt the best salamander lists require shambling to make them work. 

Overall, B- for Regiment and Horde

Tyrants

Man this statline looks familiar, I swear I've seen it somewhere in the Ratkin list, except it was for a whole lot less points and had regeneration. 

Here is one of the units that I said I'm going to use another similar unit to compare too, as an explanation of why I feel that the tyrants are a solid 20 points overcosted.  So the Brutes have higher speed, the same special rules + regen 5+, and considering they will almost always have rallying 2 around them, the same nerve.  The only downside is the def 4,  but after playing with Brutes last year (they were mvp half the games) that wasn't really a downside.  Tyrants will perform a solid job, and would be great backline reserves, but for 210 points there is no real reason to not take the cheaper fire elementals that do the exact same job, unless you really need brutal.  If tyrants were 190 points, I think there would be a valid argument for them, but as it sits they really compete with fire elementals, and the shamble crutch is just better than fury and brutal.

Overall, C for Hordes and D for Regiments

Ancients on Rhinosaurs

So prior to CoK, I would probably have said that this unit is the MVP of the list.  The other stampede, the one thing that sets Salamanders apart from every other list.  Now however, I think these guys are just top 3.  Don't get me wrong, for Large Cavalry they are the bees knees, 18 solid attacks that wound on 2's regardless of defense is good.  They are chaffable now to lb and breath attacks which is a very good buff for these guys.  There is an argument to be made if getting pathfinder or vicious/elite is better for this unit,  and I think it will depend on local meta and whether or not you are using your primes for forest clearing.  Brew of Haste is another really solid addition, speed 7 can be a downfall for this unit (much like DireFang Riders) Overall there really isn't much to say about this unit, I don't think you can take the regiment option, as it isn't enough of an impact unit for 180 points, but a horde of these guys can solve any major problem you have.  Just make sure to protect them from flying heroes that poke them once to remove tc.

Overall, D+ for regiments, B for Hordes

Kaisenor Lancers

So anyone following along on EasyArmy would know that I skipped these guys earlier, and that's because they are one of the units changed with the CoK pack. (the change was adding vicious)  I wrote a pretty long piece on facebook a month or so ago when the addition of vicious was announced, and after playing with these guys I'm pretty comfortable saying that these are the best unit in the list now.  Part of this is because unlike any list other than orcs, there is no physical difference between a regiment of lancers and the regiment of ancients.  You don't take up any extra real estate, so a lot of the downfalls of all cav armies are mitigated by the fact that the army feels that regardless of choice.  They cost the same as ancients, and for what you get over primes it's pretty worth the 30 point bump in price.  18 att really sets this unit apart from the rest of the list (remember how I said ceremonial guard were only worth mentioning because of 15 att) and with pathfinder infantry you can run these guys on the non forest lanes.  The 4+ def is poor, but this unit is basically the only fast hammer in the army, and fast hammers are worth their weight in gold in this game.  It's not uncommon for this unit to throw 10 wounds out likes it's nothing, and it will blend anything from the flank.  Troops of lancers are okay chaff, abit pricey but they can perform respectably, and have enough threat generation to be a problem similar to ancient troops. 

Overall, B- for Troops, A for Regiments.

Hope this was somewhat insightful, and next article will focus on the troops/irregular units, as well as the monsters of the Salamanders.