EDIT: Parts of this post are no longer valid due to the arrival of 6th Edition, notably power weapons and agonisers have become much less effective against terminators due to the changes in AP for cc weapons. I hope to update the stats when I have time.[Original: v1.0 – 16 Apr 12]
I’m on leave from work at the moment and I had a spare morning, so I thought I’d devote it to a bit of maths (Engineers – we live exciting lives). I started off with an individual model so that it’s easy to multiply up and make units at the end. As WS and BS are the same, the stats apply to all Warriors, Trueborn, Wyches and Bloodbrides, including character upgrades. Fractions are rounded to 2 decimal places, but I keep the full number for my further calculations.
ShootingWeapon | Shots | Kills vs MEQ | Kills vs TEQ | Kills vs GEQ |
Splinter Rifle (Long Range)/Splinter Pistol | 1 | 0.11 | 0.06 | 0.33 |
Splinter Rifle (Rapid Fire) | 2 | 0.22 | 0.11 | 0.67 |
Shardcarbine | 3 | 0.33 | 0.17 | 1 |
Splinter Cannon (Moving) | 4 | 0.44 | 0.22 | 1.33 |
Splinter Cannon (Stationary) | 6 | 0.67 | 0.33 | 2 |
Shredder | (Assume 3 hits) | 0.83 | 0.42 | 1.67 |
Dark Lance/Blaster/Blast Pistol | 1 | 0.56 | 0.37 | 0.56 |
Multiplying this up to a couple of example units gives:
10 Warriors (1 Splinter Cannon, 1 Blaster, Sybarite with Splinter Pistol & Venom Blade)One round of shooting at range kills: 1.44 Marines, 0.72 Terminators or 4.33 Guardsmen
And within 12” kills: 2.89 Marines, 1.54 Terminators or 7.56 Guardsmen
10 Wyches (1 x Razorflails, 1 x Hydra Gauntlets, Hekatrix with Blast Pistol & Agoniser)One round of shooting within 6” (because if you’re any further away you’ll run instead of shoot) kills: 1.33 Marines, 0.76 Terminators or 2.89 Guardsmen
[Edit: v1.1 – 20 Apr 12 – CC stats added]
But Wyches really shouldn’t be judged on their shooting, so the following table gives kill rates for 1 attack with various CC weapons:
AssaultWeapon | Kills vs MEQ | Kills vs TEQ | Kills vs GEQ |
Close Combat Weapon | 0.06 | 0.03 | 0.22 |
Venom Blade | 0.14 | 0.07 | 0.37 |
Power Weapon | 0.17 | 0.11 | 0.33 |
Agoniser | 0.25 | 0.17 | 0.33 |
Razorflails | 0.14 | 0.07 | 0.44 |
I haven’t included the Shardnet and Impaler, because their offensive effect is to act as 2 CCW. Similarly, Hydra Gauntlets just have the net effect of adding 3.5 standard CCW attacks (on average) instead of the +1 for a second CCW.
Multiplying up with my example units gives:
10 Warriors (1 Splinter Cannon, 1 Blaster, Sybarite with Splinter Pistol & Venom Blade)On the charge: 1.56 Marines, 0.78 Terminators or 5.48 Guardsmen
Subsequent rounds: 0.92 Marines, 0.46 Terminators or 3.11 Guardsmen
10 Wyches (1 x Razorflails, 1 x Hydra Gauntlets, Hekatrix with Blast Pistol & Agoniser)On the charge: 2.89 Marines, 1.61 Terminators or 8.56 Guardsmen
Subsequent rounds: 2.06 Marines, 1.15 Terminators or 6 Guardsmen
The Wyches are free to shoot as well as assaulting, provided that they are close enough not to need to run, whereas the Warriors must choose between firing their Rapid Fire weapons and charging the enemy.
These stats work for any units with the same WS, BS and strength. Want to know how a Venom with Splinter spam and Trueborn Blaster Spam will fare? Just add it up...
Trueborn x 4 w/ Blaster x 4, Venom, SC x 2Long range: 1.33 Marines, 0.67 Terminators or 4 Guardsmen
Within 12”: 3.56 Marines, 2.15 Terminators or 6.22 Guardsmen
Although you probably bought the Blasters to deal with vehicles – I’ll do the sums for that when I have the time. I’m also intending to work out the effects of the various combat drugs, and perhaps kill tables for Incubi, Hellions, and anything else that takes my fancy.
No promises about exactly when though...
[Edit: v1.2 - 27 Apr 12 – Combat Drug stats added]
My next question: what effect will combat drugs have on my Wyches? 4 of the 6 drugs have a direct effect on close combat effectiveness (p26 of the codex); Adrenalight just adds attacks and can therefore be calculated from my previous tables. The effects of the others are as follows:
SerpentinWeapon | Kills vs MEQ | Kills vs TEQ | Kills vs GEQ |
Close Combat Weapon | 0.07 | 0.04 | 0.22 |
Venom Blade | 0.19 | 0.09 | 0.37 |
Power Weapon | 0.22 | 0.15 | 0.33 |
Agoniser | 0.33 | 0.22 | 0.33 |
Razorflails | 0.16 | 0.08 | 0.44 |
Note: Serpentin doesn’t aid performance against Guardsmen (or other units with the same WS) as the Wyches were already at an advantage.
Grave LotusWeapon | Kills vs MEQ | Kills vs TEQ | Kills vs GEQ |
Close Combat Weapon | 0.08 | 0.04 | 0.30 |
Venom Blade | 0.14 | 0.04 | 0.37 |
Power Weapon | 0.25 | 0.17 | 0.30 |
Agoniser | 0.25 | 0.22 | 0.22 |
Razorflails | 0.13 | 0.06 | 0.40 |
PainbringerWeapon | Kills vs MEQ | Kills vs TEQ | Kills vs GEQ |
Close Combat Weapon | 0.09 | 0.05 | 0.33 |
Venom Blade | 0.16 | 0.08 | 0.43 |
Power Weapon | 0.28 | 0.19 | 0.33 |
Agoniser | 0.38 | 0.25 | 0.33 |
Razorflails | 0.09 | 0.05 | 0.33 |
Note: Painbringer doesn’t improve the performance of Razorflails, as these already re-roll failed attempts to wound.
Taking my example Wyches (10 w/ 1 x Razorflails, 1 x Hydra Gauntlets, Hekatrix with Blast Pistol & Agoniser), we find that combat drugs have the following effect on their kill rates:
Wyches with SerpentinOn the charge: 3.79 Marines, 2.12 Terminators or 8.56 Guardsmen
Subsequent rounds: 2.70 Marines, 1.52 Terminators or 6 Guardsmen
Wyches with Grave LotusOn the charge: 3.58 Marines, 1.96 Terminators or 10.37 Guardsmen
Subsequent rounds: 2.54 Marines, 1.40 Terminators or 7.27 Guardsmen
Wyches with PainbringerOn the charge: 4.23 Marines, 2.37 Terminators or 11.83 Guardsmen
Subsequent rounds: 3.02 Marines, 1.70 Terminators or 8.33 Guardsmen
Wyches with AdrenalightOn the charge: 3.72 Marines, 2.07 Terminators or 11.11 Guardsmen
Subsequent rounds: 2.89 Marines, 1.61 Terminators or 8.56 Guardsmen
So what? Well, if you value all-out killiness over other possible benefits of the combat drugs (such as FnP from that bonus Pain Token), then Painbringer is the result to pray for when you make your sacrifices to the dice gods (or cheat). This knowledge is also useful if you’re using Duke Sliscus (my HQ of choice) with his ability to roll twice on the drugs table and choose the one he wants.
As an aside, these tables also allow you to work out the effect of getting a second Pain Token, as Furious Charge works just like getting Grave Lotus on the charge (although this doesn’t take account of the initiative bonus, and you can’t just stack these results over the effects of the combat drugs because the maths doesn’t work that simply).
Wyches with 2 or more Pain TokensOn the charge: 3.58 Marines, 1.96 Terminators or 10.37 Guardsmen
Subsequent rounds: 2.06 Marines, 1.15 Terminators or 6 Guardsmen
More to follow when I get the time...
[Edit: v1.3 - 12 May 12 – Some more CC units]
Here are some more stats for units in assault. I usually field these units in 5s, but my example units are 10s to make it easy to compare them to what’s gone before.
WracksWeapon | Kills vs MEQ | Kills vs TEQ | Kills vs GEQ |
Poisoned CCW | 0.08 | 0.04 | 0.22 |
Scissorhand | 0.11 | 0.06 | 0.30 |
Flesh Gauntlet | 0.08 | 0.04 | 0.22 |
Mindphase Gauntlet | 0.06 | 0.03 | 0.22 |
Venom Blade | 0.14 | 0.07 | 0.37 |
Agoniser | 0.25 | 0.17 | 0.33 |
Electrocorrosive Whip | 0.17 | 0.11 | 0.33 |
As an example Wrack unit, let’s take:
10 Wracks including Acothyst with Flesh GauntletOn the charge: 2.58 Marines, 1.29 Terminators or 6.89 Guardsmen
Subsequent rounds: 1.75 Marines, 0.86 Terminators or 4.67 Guardsmen
So the Wracks come out better than Warriors and worse than Wyches in CC. The limit of these particular stats though is that they don’t show effectiveness against high toughness and multi-wound enemies. With poisoned weapons as standard, and a large number of upgrades which inflict instant death or otherwise degrade an enemy who takes a wound, Wracks really start to shine against those types of opponents.
HellionsWeapon | Kills vs MEQ | Kills vs TEQ | Kills vs GEQ |
Splinter Pod (2 shots) | 0.22 | 0.11 | 0.67 |
Hellglaive | 0.08 | 0.04 | 0.30 |
10 Hellions including Helliarch with AgoniserShooting: 2.22 Marines, 1.11 Terminators or 6.67 Guardsmen
On the charge: 3.25 Marines, 1.79 Terminators or 9.33 Guardsmen
Subsequent rounds: 2.25 Marines, 1.25 Terminators or 6.33 Guardsmen
Against MEQ and TEQ, Hellions have exactly the same chances as Wracks – the differences in the example squads are all down to the squad leader upgrades. Hellions do get combat drugs though, which are not factored into these stats.
IncubiWeapon | Kills vs MEQ | Kills vs TEQ | Kills vs GEQ |
Klaive | 0.33 | 0.22 | 0.44 |
Demiklaives (+2S) | 0.44 | 0.30 | 0.56 |
Demiklaives (+2A) | 0.22 | 0.15 | 0.33 |
10 Incubi including Klaivex with Demiklaives(Demiklaives +2S)
On the charge: 10.78 Marines, 7.19 Terminators or 14.22 Guardsmen
Subsequent rounds: 7.33 Marines, 4.89 Terminators or 9.67 Guardsmen
(Demiklaives +2A)
On the charge: 10.33 Marines, 6.89 Terminators or 14 Guardsmen
Subsequent rounds: 7.11 Marines, 4.74 Terminators or 9.67 Guardsmen
So, unsurprisingly, Incubi eat MEQ and TEQ for breakfast, although you’re unlikely to ever field them in squads of 10. If you take Demiklaives, you are statistically better off opting for +2S instead of +2A against almost all opponents.
MandrakesWeapon | Kills vs MEQ | Kills vs TEQ | Kills vs GEQ |
Bale Blast (2 shots) | 0.22 | 0.11 | 0.89 |
Evil-looking blade | 0.08 | 0.04 | 0.30 |
10 Mandrakes including NightfiendShooting: 2.22 Marines, 1.11 Terminators or 8.89 Guardsmen
On the charge: 2.58 Marines, 1.29 Terminators or 9.19 Guardsmen
Subsequent rounds: 1.75 Marines, 0.88 Terminators or 6.22 Guardsmen