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Unit Strategy Review
Unit: Roman Archers
Author: dok
The only Einar ranged squad before Wave 6, the Roman Archers have lost much of their luster with the arrival of the Tagawa Samurai Archers, Ashigaru Harquebus, and of course the 10th Regiment of Foot. These units offer better defense, more attack dice per order marker, synergies with heroes, or some combination of those advantages. While the Legionnaires continue to be well-regarded, the Archers rarely see competitve play.
Yet the Roman Archers posess a valuable special attack, and one that can lead you to want them on the battlefield. In this strategy guide, we will take a look at how one should play the Roman Archers in order to minimize their weaknesses and exploit their unique strengths.
We will begin with their stats.
Vital Statistics
Cost – 55– Bishop Class
Size - Medium - Vulnerable/Concealable
Life – Squad – 3 figures - Average
Move – 4 – Slow
Range - 6 - Medium Range
Attack - 2* - Poor
Defense - 1 - Frail
* Arrow Volley – adjacent Roman Archers may roll all dice as a single attack – moderate tactical advantage
In-Depth Analysis
Below is an explanation of Agatagary's cost classification:
Pawn class (expendable, units that can be useful, but are not worth enormous trouble to protect)
Bishop class (more useful than a pawn, but still somewhat expendable)
Knight class (units that are interestingly powerful and can have a significant impact on the game in of themselves. It is advisable that they be kept alive, but if absolutely necessary they may be sacrificed)
Rook class (units that almost inevitably have a significant impact on the game, and whose death should be avoided as much as possible)
Queen class (devastatingly powerful or important units that should be protected at all costs)
Class
The Roman Archers are a Bishop class unit. They are not the core unit of your army, but rather a threat unit that should be held in reserve and put in play only when they will be effective. Their common status and relatively low cost does allow you to accept some losses, but they are not designed to be the spearhead of your army. The key to their success is to put them in a place where their offense can shine and their defense can be hidden.
To examine the Roman Archers' core stats, we will break them up into two categories—offensive ability and survivability.
Offense:
The Roman Archers have a below average attack of 2, which can only reliably penetrate the armor of units with one defense or below. As a ranged unit, however, they will often have height advantage against melee units, bringing their offense up to an average 3.
They also posess a special attack - arrow volley. This replaces the three normal attacks of a squad of Roman Archers with a single strength 6 attack. To put a strength six attack in perspective, only 8 heroes in classic Heroscape have any attack of strength 6 or greater, and the cheapest (Sgt. Drake from the original RotV master set) costs twice as many points as a unit of Roman Archers. The Zombies of Morindan and Ashigaru Yari have similar combined attacks of 6 as well. However, neither those combined squad attacks, nor any of the other strength 6+ attacks in the game, can be delivered without adjacency, making the arrow volley the most powerful unboosted ranged attack in classic Heroscape.
Taking advantage of arrow volley is crucial to playing the Roman Archers effectively, and will be covered in depth in the strategy section.
Survivability:
With a defense of 1, Roman Archers are extremely vulnerable to attack. If they are subject to attack, it is crucial that they have height advantage and/or are within Raelin's defensive aura, otherwise they will not last long against any unit in the game. Still, even these boosts cannot make the Roman Archers particularly hardy. The key to keeping the Roman Archers on the battlefield, quite simply, is to make sure that your opponent is attacking something else.
Strategy:
Inevitably, there will be times you use the Roman Archers like a conventional ranged unit - placing them on height and attacking opposing squad units. They can do this, and can be successful in certain limited situations this way. But if your intention is to use the Archers this way for most of the battle, you will find your points better spent on other ranged units. Note that Jexik colored them not as a bread-and-butter unit like the 4th Mass, but as a shark like the Airborne Elite.
When you do bring them into play, it should usually be to use arrow volley. Without arrow volley, the Roman Archers are nothing but a weak ranged squad. Three strength 2 attacks is something you can get from a lot of places, and usually with more than 1 defense backing it up. Other relatively weak ranged squads tend to have good bonding potential, better defense, or lower cost. Note how lonely the Roman Archers look on Ryougabot's synergy charts.
A corrolary to this point is that, like most common squads, you should draft more than one squad of Roman Archers. In addition to all the standard arguments for wanting more than one squad available for activation, Roman Archers can only use their special attack when you have three figures available. Having reserve Roman Archers means that arrow volley remains available after a single archer is killed.
Because you will be using the Roman Archers primarily for arrow volley, you will be required to keep the Roman Archers adjacent and on a single level when they are active. This can make securing high ground somewhat difficult, depending on the map layout. However, since arrow volley is a special attack which does not benefit from height advantage, lacking height advantage is tolerable as long as you are not consistently giving your opponent height advantage in the process. Since the only reliable defense for Roman Archers is to not get attacked in the first place, lacking height advantage on defense is not a primary concern.
Before we tackle the question of how to best take advantage of arrow volley, let's get some basic tactical questions about arrow volley out of the way. For this section, I am consulting heavily from Sisyphus' Probability Tables, a valuable resource that you should be familiar with.
Against squad figures or 1-life heroes:
The one sentence to take from that analysis is "Roman Archers are not very useful against squad units". Sure, there are exceptions, like Einar Imperium backed up by Kiova and Raelin. (Although in that case, I'd argue you're better off using arrow volley on one of the heroes, and then turning to the squad.) Arrow volley often looks good compared to the Roman Archer's own attack of 2, but nobody's forcing you to put order markers on the Roman Archers. When facing down squads, any cheap melee unit like Roman Legionaires, with a base attack of 3, can walk up and be as or more effective the majority of the time.
Now... on to the heroes. Here we are concerned not with wound chance, but with average wounds delivered. This changes the conclusion quite a bit, as we will see.
Against Heroes:
So, what is the conclusion we can draw from this? Roman Archers give you a cheap unit to use against high-defense heroes. Arrow volley can penetrate that defense and give you dependable wounds.
Unfortunately, as I mentioned earlier, Roman Archers are very bad at standing up to attacks on their own. For this reason, Roman Archers depend very heavily on having an effective defensive unit in front of them, which can engage opponents and take the brunt of attacks.
Roman Archers should be kept roughly 9 spaces back from the position of a set defensive unit screen, and/or 10 spaces back from the expected position of the high-defense hero that you plan to target. The idea is to take advantage of the Roman Archers' full threat range (move + range). By doing so, you keep the Roman Archers as far out of the action as is possible until arrow volley becomes useful. Ideally, your planned target should already be engaged with the defensive unit before the Roman Archers move into range.
Figures that work well with Roman Archers
Remember, the goal here is to pick a figure or figures that will be effective holding up the enemy, so that the Roman Archers can do damage to a high-defense hero with arrow volley.
Heroes:
Several figures fit the bill. The most obvious are ranged unique squads and figures that can make multiple attacks - Major Q10, Kaemon Awa, the Nakita Agents, Syvarris, the Airborne Elite, the Krav Maga Agents, and the Marro Warriors all fit the bill. Even Q9 or a Dragon can work at high points values. Another option is a figure that can quickly penetrate behind enemy lines and attack the opposing figures, such as Cyprien Essenwein or Ninjas of the Northern Wind.
Sample Armies
110 Roman Archers x2
100 Krav Maga Agents
150 Roman Legionnaires x3
90 Ne-Gok-Sa
50 Me-Burq-Sa
500 points, 24 hexes
The Roman Legionnaires and Ne-Gok-Sa can tie up opposing units and block choke points. The Krav Maga Agents provide a strong counter to opposing ranged figures.
110 Roman Archers x2
180 Marrden Houndsx2
110 Brunak
120 Nakita Agents
520, 23 hexes
Hounds and Brunak both provide squad-killing and high defense blocking. Nakita Agents provide smoke powder protection for the Archers and Brunak, as well as a good counter to opposing ranged figures. Lots of large and huge figures provide useful immunities.
110 Roman Archers x2
140 Knights of Weston x2
105 Sir Gilbert
80 Finn the Viking Champion
50 Marro Warriors
485, 20 hexes
A classic knight army at first, with the Roman Archers springing into action when an appropriate target presents itself. Finn's spirit attaches to the Marro Warriors for a dangerous late-game combo.
165 Roman Archers x3
120 Deathreavers x3
150 Cyprien Esenwein
45 Sonya Esnewein
480, 23 hexes
The Deathreavers tie up your enemies, Cyprien kills what he can, and the Roman Archers kill what he can't.
For additional information, see the Book of Roman Archers.
Unit Strategy Review
Unit: Roman Archers
Author: dok
The only Einar ranged squad before Wave 6, the Roman Archers have lost much of their luster with the arrival of the Tagawa Samurai Archers, Ashigaru Harquebus, and of course the 10th Regiment of Foot. These units offer better defense, more attack dice per order marker, synergies with heroes, or some combination of those advantages. While the Legionnaires continue to be well-regarded, the Archers rarely see competitve play.
Yet the Roman Archers posess a valuable special attack, and one that can lead you to want them on the battlefield. In this strategy guide, we will take a look at how one should play the Roman Archers in order to minimize their weaknesses and exploit their unique strengths.
We will begin with their stats.
Vital Statistics
Cost – 55– Bishop Class
Size - Medium - Vulnerable/Concealable
Life – Squad – 3 figures - Average
Move – 4 – Slow
Range - 6 - Medium Range
Attack - 2* - Poor
Defense - 1 - Frail
* Arrow Volley – adjacent Roman Archers may roll all dice as a single attack – moderate tactical advantage
In-Depth Analysis
Below is an explanation of Agatagary's cost classification:
Pawn class (expendable, units that can be useful, but are not worth enormous trouble to protect)
Bishop class (more useful than a pawn, but still somewhat expendable)
Knight class (units that are interestingly powerful and can have a significant impact on the game in of themselves. It is advisable that they be kept alive, but if absolutely necessary they may be sacrificed)
Rook class (units that almost inevitably have a significant impact on the game, and whose death should be avoided as much as possible)
Queen class (devastatingly powerful or important units that should be protected at all costs)
Class
The Roman Archers are a Bishop class unit. They are not the core unit of your army, but rather a threat unit that should be held in reserve and put in play only when they will be effective. Their common status and relatively low cost does allow you to accept some losses, but they are not designed to be the spearhead of your army. The key to their success is to put them in a place where their offense can shine and their defense can be hidden.
To examine the Roman Archers' core stats, we will break them up into two categories—offensive ability and survivability.
Offense:
The Roman Archers have a below average attack of 2, which can only reliably penetrate the armor of units with one defense or below. As a ranged unit, however, they will often have height advantage against melee units, bringing their offense up to an average 3.
They also posess a special attack - arrow volley. This replaces the three normal attacks of a squad of Roman Archers with a single strength 6 attack. To put a strength six attack in perspective, only 8 heroes in classic Heroscape have any attack of strength 6 or greater, and the cheapest (Sgt. Drake from the original RotV master set) costs twice as many points as a unit of Roman Archers. The Zombies of Morindan and Ashigaru Yari have similar combined attacks of 6 as well. However, neither those combined squad attacks, nor any of the other strength 6+ attacks in the game, can be delivered without adjacency, making the arrow volley the most powerful unboosted ranged attack in classic Heroscape.
Taking advantage of arrow volley is crucial to playing the Roman Archers effectively, and will be covered in depth in the strategy section.
Survivability:
With a defense of 1, Roman Archers are extremely vulnerable to attack. If they are subject to attack, it is crucial that they have height advantage and/or are within Raelin's defensive aura, otherwise they will not last long against any unit in the game. Still, even these boosts cannot make the Roman Archers particularly hardy. The key to keeping the Roman Archers on the battlefield, quite simply, is to make sure that your opponent is attacking something else.
Strategy:
Inevitably, there will be times you use the Roman Archers like a conventional ranged unit - placing them on height and attacking opposing squad units. They can do this, and can be successful in certain limited situations this way. But if your intention is to use the Archers this way for most of the battle, you will find your points better spent on other ranged units. Note that Jexik colored them not as a bread-and-butter unit like the 4th Mass, but as a shark like the Airborne Elite.
When you do bring them into play, it should usually be to use arrow volley. Without arrow volley, the Roman Archers are nothing but a weak ranged squad. Three strength 2 attacks is something you can get from a lot of places, and usually with more than 1 defense backing it up. Other relatively weak ranged squads tend to have good bonding potential, better defense, or lower cost. Note how lonely the Roman Archers look on Ryougabot's synergy charts.
A corrolary to this point is that, like most common squads, you should draft more than one squad of Roman Archers. In addition to all the standard arguments for wanting more than one squad available for activation, Roman Archers can only use their special attack when you have three figures available. Having reserve Roman Archers means that arrow volley remains available after a single archer is killed.
Because you will be using the Roman Archers primarily for arrow volley, you will be required to keep the Roman Archers adjacent and on a single level when they are active. This can make securing high ground somewhat difficult, depending on the map layout. However, since arrow volley is a special attack which does not benefit from height advantage, lacking height advantage is tolerable as long as you are not consistently giving your opponent height advantage in the process. Since the only reliable defense for Roman Archers is to not get attacked in the first place, lacking height advantage on defense is not a primary concern.
Before we tackle the question of how to best take advantage of arrow volley, let's get some basic tactical questions about arrow volley out of the way. For this section, I am consulting heavily from Sisyphus' Probability Tables, a valuable resource that you should be familiar with.
Against squad figures or 1-life heroes:
- Against figures with 4 or more defense, arrow volley will cause more kills on average than 3 attacks of 2.
- Against figures with 8 or more defense, arrow volley will cause more kills on average than 3 attacks of 3.
- Sentinels of Jandar use the same cutoffs as normal squad figures.
- Against Einar Imperium with Kiova's aura, arrow volley is better than 3 attacks of 2, and better than 3 attacks of 3 if the EI have any defensive enhancements (height, Raelin, etc)
- Gorrilinators, oddly enough, follow the exact same rules as the EI with Kiova, above.
The one sentence to take from that analysis is "Roman Archers are not very useful against squad units". Sure, there are exceptions, like Einar Imperium backed up by Kiova and Raelin. (Although in that case, I'd argue you're better off using arrow volley on one of the heroes, and then turning to the squad.) Arrow volley often looks good compared to the Roman Archer's own attack of 2, but nobody's forcing you to put order markers on the Roman Archers. When facing down squads, any cheap melee unit like Roman Legionaires, with a base attack of 3, can walk up and be as or more effective the majority of the time.
Now... on to the heroes. Here we are concerned not with wound chance, but with average wounds delivered. This changes the conclusion quite a bit, as we will see.
Against Heroes:
- Arrow volley is always better than 3 attacks of 2 against heroes with more than 1 life.
- Arrow volley is stronger than 3 attacks of 3 against heroes with 5 defense or better.
So, what is the conclusion we can draw from this? Roman Archers give you a cheap unit to use against high-defense heroes. Arrow volley can penetrate that defense and give you dependable wounds.
Unfortunately, as I mentioned earlier, Roman Archers are very bad at standing up to attacks on their own. For this reason, Roman Archers depend very heavily on having an effective defensive unit in front of them, which can engage opponents and take the brunt of attacks.
Roman Archers should be kept roughly 9 spaces back from the position of a set defensive unit screen, and/or 10 spaces back from the expected position of the high-defense hero that you plan to target. The idea is to take advantage of the Roman Archers' full threat range (move + range). By doing so, you keep the Roman Archers as far out of the action as is possible until arrow volley becomes useful. Ideally, your planned target should already be engaged with the defensive unit before the Roman Archers move into range.
Figures that work well with Roman Archers
Remember, the goal here is to pick a figure or figures that will be effective holding up the enemy, so that the Roman Archers can do damage to a high-defense hero with arrow volley.
Heroes:
- Brunak - his high defense at a relatively low cost makes him an obvious tank. Carry allows him to bring along further defensive help, like Thorgrim, Raelin, or a Nakita Agent. His huge size gives him some useful immunities against several attacks. Blood Hungry is a good attack to pair with arrow volley, as it is effective against squads while arrow volley is effective against heroes.
- Valguard - You can take advantage of Valguard's one strong attack (first assault) as he moves in, and then let him tank with his 7 life against the hero while you use order markers on the Roman Archers. Also, he bonds with Sacred Band and Roman Legionaires for a nice wide Einar roadblock.
- Ne-Gok-Sa - high defense, high life, bonds with Roman Legionaires. What's not to like?
- Finn or Thorgrim the viking champion - The big advantage here is bonding with Knights of Weston, who are obviously great meat shields in their own right. Plus, these heroes are useful in death as well as life, so putting them on the front lines is an obvious pick. Thorgrim makes more sense here since the intention is to use him passively to allow the Roman Archers to work.
- Major X17 - His high melee defense can stymie many units. He's also devastating against units that rely on disengage, like the orc heroes or Cyprien. X17 and the Roman Archers make for a great counter-draft to Cyprien and Sonya.
- Charos - Obviously 210 points is a lot to spend on a screening unit, particularly when his 5 attack is nearly as strong as 6 from arrow volley and renders the archers somewhat extraneous. Still, he is very effective in this role, and using the Romans with him can allow you to shoot past the front line at a strong supporting hero.
- Deathreavers - Stop the presses! I've found a ranged unit that works well with roborats! OK, so it's an obvious choice, but it works very well.
- Izumi Samurai - Against any unit that relies on normal attack, Izumi Samurai are a nightmare to engage. With a lame 2 attack of their own, you're not giving up much by not putting order markers on them.
- Roman Legionaires - No shocker here either, but shield wall makes a nice... wall. Their bonding with NGS and Valguard is helpful here as well.
- Sacred Band - See Roman Legionaires, except leave out NGS. Parmenio can be helpful behind the lines.
- Knights of Weston - see Roman Legionaires, replace "NGS and Valguard" with "viking champions".
- Warriors of Ashra - Similar to the Izumi, except cheaper and not quite as dangerous.
- Tarn Viking Warriors - cheaper version of the Knights of Weston, if you're not getting vikings and you only have room for one squad.
- Gladiatrons - they work in this capacity, but the reality is that Blastarons work drastically better with Glads than Roman Archers do, and can give you a lot more attack dice to work with. However, the Roman Archers' attack can damage Drake, unlike the attacks of the Blastarons.
- Marrden Hounds - a bit of a different animal (sorry) than the other squads I list. They are expensive, but their large size gives them some immunities, and the Marro plague is a good attack to pair with arrow volley. High defense makes them decent tanks, too.
- Charos - arguably the most obvious victim for arrow volley, because he is so dangerous to engage with melee. Swarm him with a high-defense squad (Knights are great for discouraging disengagement) and fire away.
- Tor-Kul-Na - use Brunak or Marrden hounds to avoid trample stomp. Brunak+Roman Archers is a great counterdraft to TKN+grubs. Brunak can blood hungry attack the grubs, while the Romans arrow volley the big fella.
- Brunak and Deathwalker 8k/9k - all three of these units can damage squads easily, so throw a hero in their face and arrow volley away.
- Ne-Gok-Sa - another useful ally of the Roman Archers that doubles as a vulnerable foe. Roman Archers are tank lovers AND tank killers.
- Warden 816, Dund - OK, these guys don't see the battlefield much, but if they do, arrow volley will send them back off. Their high defense makes them good targets.
- Q9/Q10 - Dangerous foes by any measure, and capable of rolling more attack dice per activation than Roman Archers. The best strategy here, particularly against Q9, is to simply throw lots and lots of rats at the problem. Sure, he'll kill 1.2 rats each activation (on average), but you will give him about one wound per activation with arrow volley. A few rounds of that exchange, and you've got a dead Major Q9 at the low, low cost of a squad and change of deathreavers. Don't believe me? Hey, do the math. (I took two squads of rats and replaced their attack with a single strength 6 attack, to reflect arrow volley.)
- Kaemon Awa, Drake, Gurei-Oni - these are lower defense figures that normally would not warrant attention from arrow volley. However, their special defensive abilities can make them hard to attack with other troops. If this is the case, arrow volley can be a useful tool.
- Nakita Agents, Tagawa Samurai - Normally I would not suggest using arrow volley against a squad, however these units can offer an exception. As a ranged special attack, arrow volley bypasses both of the Nakita Agents' special abilities (engagement strike and smoke powder). Tagawa Samurai are risky to engage with melee, so if you lack a better ranged option than the Roman Archers, go ahead and use them. These are the most expensive unique squads, so using an order marker to remove one is not such a terrible waste.
- Dragons not named Charos - first of all, these dragons lack the high defense that places a premium on arrow volley. Second, Mimring and Braxas can often manage to attack the Roman Archers even while engaged. And of course, Zelrig will kill adjacent Roman Archers with ease. There are situations when rats+romans can do the trick and take down a dragon effectively, but there are usually better options available.
- Orcs, Agent Carr, Ninjas, and Cyprien - disengage, ghost walk, and stealth flying all foil the tank&volley strategy of the Roman Archers. If you are using X17 (or Gladiatrons) as your tank, then these enemies are no longer a worry.
- Jorhdawn, Shotgun Sullivan, James Murphy - More area effect attacks that are effective in taking down Roman Archers that are lined up for an arrow volley. The latter two make an effective counterdraft to Roman Archers.
- Syvarris and all long range squads - Really, any unit that can get into a long range shootout with Roman Archers and attack more than once per activation is probably going to come out on top. KMA, in particular, can dispatch Roman Archers with ease. Give such units a wide berth, and send other figures to take care of them. If you know you will have to deal with these squads, then Raelin and/or a Nakita agent can give you a measure of protection.
Several figures fit the bill. The most obvious are ranged unique squads and figures that can make multiple attacks - Major Q10, Kaemon Awa, the Nakita Agents, Syvarris, the Airborne Elite, the Krav Maga Agents, and the Marro Warriors all fit the bill. Even Q9 or a Dragon can work at high points values. Another option is a figure that can quickly penetrate behind enemy lines and attack the opposing figures, such as Cyprien Essenwein or Ninjas of the Northern Wind.
Sample Armies
110 Roman Archers x2
100 Krav Maga Agents
150 Roman Legionnaires x3
90 Ne-Gok-Sa
50 Me-Burq-Sa
500 points, 24 hexes
The Roman Legionnaires and Ne-Gok-Sa can tie up opposing units and block choke points. The Krav Maga Agents provide a strong counter to opposing ranged figures.
110 Roman Archers x2
180 Marrden Houndsx2
110 Brunak
120 Nakita Agents
520, 23 hexes
Hounds and Brunak both provide squad-killing and high defense blocking. Nakita Agents provide smoke powder protection for the Archers and Brunak, as well as a good counter to opposing ranged figures. Lots of large and huge figures provide useful immunities.
110 Roman Archers x2
140 Knights of Weston x2
105 Sir Gilbert
80 Finn the Viking Champion
50 Marro Warriors
485, 20 hexes
A classic knight army at first, with the Roman Archers springing into action when an appropriate target presents itself. Finn's spirit attaches to the Marro Warriors for a dangerous late-game combo.
165 Roman Archers x3
120 Deathreavers x3
150 Cyprien Esenwein
45 Sonya Esnewein
480, 23 hexes
The Deathreavers tie up your enemies, Cyprien kills what he can, and the Roman Archers kill what he can't.
For additional information, see the Book of Roman Archers.
I especially like the Cyprien Army.
When you put their card next to the stingers'... well, you get a lot more base stats for just 5 more points.
