Hunters - W'adrhŭn Guide (english)

The Hunters are often overlooked as an alternative to the Slingers and have lost popularity since the introduction of the 2.0 edition. Well, they're also mainly responsible for gathering food in the background.

Cost:

At 150 points, the Hunters aren’t particularly attractive for their rule combination. Additional stands for 40 points only improve this marginally.

Strengths:

• Effective ranged attacks: Their main strength lies in ranged combat, where they throw their spears with Barrage 4, Armor Piercing 1, and Deadly Shot. This can cause significant damage even against well-armored opponents.
• Melee combat: 5 attacks with Clash 2 are notably good for ranged units.
• Armor Piercing 1: In ranged combat, their Volley attack reduces the opponent's armor by 1.
• Deadly Shot: Every armor roll of 6 results in two damage instead of one on ranged attacks with this special rule. If the opponent has no armor against these attacks, they still need to roll, and for each 6, they take two damage.
• Loose Formation: Ranged weapons halve their Barrage value against this regiment (before any bonuses), and spells cause only half as many hits.
• Standard Bearer: The standard bearer is free and grants +1 Movement on the second movement action per round, as well as a reroll for charge rolls.
• Chants: Generates a Chant Marker, thus supporting the W’adrhŭn mechanic, granting access to many useful abilities.
• Battlefield Role - The Speakers: There are some nice synergies with the Thunder Chieftain Warlord. More of a "nice to have" than a core feature.

Weaknesses:

• Low effectiveness: With Volley 2 and the limited range of 14", their effectiveness is hampered, especially since the W’adrhŭn faction doesn't have buff options for the Hunters.
• Low durability: With 5 health points and D1, they can take some damage before being taken out. While Loose Formation helps them in ranged combat, they fall quickly under concentrated melee attacks.

General Tactics:

It seems that Para Bellum wants the Hunters to aggressively advance on the enemy, shoot at them with their spears, and then finish off the remnants in melee. However, they lack a crucial ability that would allow them to transition directly into melee after a ranged attack or continue using their spear effectively in close combat. This lack of synergy makes it difficult to use the Hunters optimally, as they can't fully replace pure ranged units like the Slingers, nor can they function as efficient melee fighters. They hold up well against medium ranged fire and usually win most ranged duels with Loose Formation and 5 health points. Ultimately, however, they don't make it into any of my army lists, as other units fulfill their roles in a more specialized and often more effective way. Thankfully, not everyone sees it this way, and with the Supremacy from the Thunder Chieftain, the regiment gains access to the Shock special rule, thus gaining +1 Clash on the charge. This is cumulative with Inspire, so the Hunters can hit on a 4 during the charge and can apply some pressure with their 5 attacks per stand.