Runeshapers

I have always been a fan of these guys but have always been leaving them by the wayside because they have never fit into what I have seen as the "must have" from the Trollblood toolbox and before you know it you have run out of the points for any of the cool extras you were thinking of taking. In an attempt to find my secondary tournament list I have decided to expand my line of thinking in regards to the Runeshapers.

Currently they are looked at as a 4pt unit for 3 guys with AOE templates, instead I have forced myself to look at them as a 4/8 unit which can have either 3 or 6. If you look at them as an 8pt unit you can suddenly match them up on par with Scattergunners, Fennblades and Bushwhackers giving you a more accurate comparison.

Scattergunners gives you 10 POW12 Spray templates at RAT5, but besides that are woefully weak defensively and even worse if they are tied into melee.

Fennblades give you a SPD6 unit with Reach and Vengeance and a respectable MAT of 6, but again are weak defensively and have no ranged threat.

Bushwhackers are RNG14 POW10 RAT4, but have advance deploy, bushwhack and CRA which help to offset their defensive frailty.

Runeshapers provide 6 POW14 AOE3 crit KD spells, steady, pathfinder, magic weapons, Kriel Warrior ARM, Fennblade MAT and 5 wounds apiece.

When Runeshapers are looked at from this perspective as an 8pt unit of 6 you suddenly realise what a great deal you get with them when compared to all our similar 8pt unit choices. Unlike most AOEs they are capable of blasting away in melee combat, and with steady they don't have to worry about knocking themselves down. They are also capable of charging using tremor to KD all within 2 inches. You do have to be careful not to catch your own dudes in it (unless its Kriel Warriors with UA who also have steady) but it can be an excellent tool for clearing LOS to the support behind the front line.

Of course they are not a true 6man unit, so have the benefits of actually being two units, meaning they can be split up to cover multiple areas. It also means three can charge and tremor and the other three can bomb their AOEs elsewhere. The only thing to hold someone back from this unit is its monetary cost, they are like just under £50 for two blisters to get the full 6man allowance.