Archers Vs Lothern Sea Guard

[stormbringer]

Everyone,
I've been comparing High Elf Archers Vs Lothern Sea Guard. They both have the same stat line except for the champions. Archers are 11 points (+1 for Light Armour). Lothern Sea Guard are 12 points including the Light Armour (+1 for Shield). The only shooting difference is the Longbow (Archers) Vs Bow (Lothern Sea Guard). The Longbow has an additional 6" range. The Lothern Sea Guard have a Spear and get Martial Prowess (fight in an extra rank).

I just don't see why I would ever take Archers when I get the extra "fighty-ness" of the Lothern Sea Guard for the same points and the option to take a shield. If I take 20 of each (5x4), the Lothern Sea Guard get an extra 10 attacks in close combat (not counting champions). They give up 6" of range during shooting.

Am I missing anything?

Jeff

[hardihar]

the extra 6 inches lets them be further back. 20 long bows can reach out a nice distance.

and you save that extra point or 2 per fig which can make a difference.

but the seaguard tend to be nice unit with some additional flexibility so they can rank up and fight.

[ben1028]

I would actually take archers if you are only taking 20 and put them in 2 ranks of 10. I also wouldn't bother with a light armor upgrade (6+ save gets negated by a ton of different things, and won't do a whole lot for you even if it remains intact). This unit would get 20 shots for stand and shoot AND 20 close combat attacks that would go before the enemy (usually), so it probably wouldn't do too badly for itself. Set up the same way a Lothern Sea Guard unit would only have a slightly better armor save but would cost 40 extra...

However, if you want to talk about a scary unit, how about 50 Lothern Sea Guard in a horde? Might be a tad expensive at 650 points, but you would have 35 shots every turn (including the stand and shoot when the enemy charges) and 50 attacks that would most likely strike first with re-rolls to hit. 50 Spearmen is also pretty scary, and a bit cheaper...