I keep finding places online that say that they think Wyches are good, and lots of people at my LGS seem to think they'll be amazing as well. Maybe I'm just taking crazy pills, but I really don't see the massive draw to them that everyone seems to.
So, lets look at what they can do:
- I6- nice, better than about anything
- 3 attacks on the charge- not terrible, they would suck horribly if they only had 2.
- 6+, 4++ in close combat- alright, providing you can get into combat
- S3, T3- probably my biggest problem with them
- 10 points- fine enough if you leave them bareboned
- Troops- if they weren't, they would never be taken I'm thinking
- Combat Drugs- makes them undependably better at combat
- Poisoned Weapons- monstrous creatures cry
Are they worth 200+ points, in the great scheme of things? Maybe. Let's do the math real quick, assuming the wyches charge:
If they charge a Tactical squad:
- 27 attacks, 14 regular hits, ~7 wounds (poison!), ~2 dead marines
- 2 agonizer hits, 1 power wound
- 3 dead marines.
- We'll even say that combat drugs give them an extra one, since I didn't factor them in at all.
- 4 dead marines.
Marines strike back
- 5 attacks, 2.5 hits, ~2 wounds, 1 dead wych
- 2 power fist swings, 1 hit, .5 dead wyches
- So only 1, maybe 2 dead wyches vs. 4 marines who cost more. Not a terrible exchange for the Wyches.
Try it again, only against 10 Grey Hunters, w/ a fist and banner:
- Wyches cause the same ~7 wounds, (but since the banner gives rerolls to 1's on the save, they end up only killing 1 Grey hunter)
- +1 for combat drugs
- +1 for agonizer
- ~3 dead wolves
- 18 attacks, 9 hit, 1 more hits for reroll 1's, ~6 wound, 3 dead wyches
- Fist swings, hits 1.5 times, wounds 1.5 times (reroll 1's), ~1 dead wych
- 4 dead wyches total (2.5 if they already have FNP)
Roughly the same, all things considered. They'll either win narrowly or lose narrowly. Keep in mind that a blood angels squad with FNP will have roughly the same results. If they wyches have the -1 attacks weapon against wolves, take 1 more dead wych off, or if other wych weapons add another kill etc. I realize there are lots of different scenarios that could happen. I'm just giving you the most common, and it really won't vary very much. Overall, they match up very closely.
Here are the conclusions we can draw so far:
- Wyches will win (almost) every combat against non-combat units such as Tactical Marines and IG (sometimes to their sadness, since they'll get rapid-fired next turn, albiet with FNP)
- Wyches will dominate most monstrous creatures
- Wyches can hold their own *in combat* against dedicated combat troops, assuming they get the charge
- Wyches are 100% boned if they get charged by a walker
- All of this tends to be good, since they're only troops
The answer: They die. Really really really fast. Good thing they have a good solid transport that is nearly indestructible to get them safely into battle right? lol
They also can't kill vehicles (sure, haywire grenades might end up killing one, but if they have to charge a vehicle, unless it's a really expensive slow-moving vehicle, you're doing something terribly wrong). Their transport can kinda try to wreck a transport- 66% to hit, 50% to pen, 33% to wreck it gives you an 11% chance to destroy a rhino (if it hasn't popped smoke). Good luck with a Chimera.
So I tell people this, and the common rebuttal is: 'well, they're a lot better if they have FNP and Furious Charge, you're not taking that into consideration'.
Now someone please please please tell me, how the HELL are they all going to have FNP and FC at the start of the game? Or really, even one of those.
- Chronos? It'll maybe get one squad FNP before they're out of range for it to give them the bonus. If it's lucky.
- Haemonculi? Then the wyches miss out on having Fleet (which is huge).
- Sure, go all out and give an 8-man wych squad 2 pain points with Haemonculi- and make them cost closer to 300 points.
- People who do this can't be seriously considering doing this for 3 different Wych squads.
- And if they are, what else is in the army? 3 ravagers and some warriors?
- If they only buff a couple squads like that, why wouldn't the opposition just shoot down their raiders? It's not like Raiders are tough to kill, even with a 4+ cover save.
- With that few of raiders, there isn't enough target saturation for it to be difficult to wreck them all.
- And if they do get shot down, without fleet, will they get into combat consistently?
That's why the 'power through pain' rule is (ironically) poisoning people's theoryhammer regarding DE. If you always assume your guys are going to be S5 (or S6 if you have hellions, heh) on the charge, then of course you're getting a great deal. Then realism sets in and you get your ass kicked because you weren't being realistic.
Even wyches with FNP aren't impressive in the face of 10 bolters rapid-firing you. Or 8 multi-lasers. Or even 10 lasguns, lol. Wyches depend on volume of attacks, and even 2 or 3 dead will mess with the efficiency in the squad.
To recap:
- Wyches can beat most non-combat squads *in combat*
- Wyches draw roughly even against dedicated combat troops
- Wyches fail when shot at, even with FNP
- Wyches can't hold objectives because they'll just get wtfpwnd with their T3 6+ save in the shooting phase
- Wyches can't kill vehicles, or if they do, will get crushed next round of shooting
- It's not plausible to make them 'better' by handing out pain points
- I haven't even touched on their leadership fails
Either way, at least the models look nice :)
