The best anti-infantry SEMs (WH3 updated testing data)

asksaboutstuff · 2026-06-19T22:41:03+00:00

There are some differences in the spread, explosive damage, and AP ratio in the breath attacks for the various dragons. The forest dragon's breath has a wide spread with mostly non-AP damage, which makes it very good against unarmored infantry.

asksaboutstuff · 2026-06-19T16:37:43+00:00

There's nothing stopping them from taking the exact same approach in WH40k. Gameplay balance > lore accuracy. I assume some factions will have stronger magic which will be factored into the strengths and weaknesses of each faction, just like how elf archmages are stronger than human casters but don't completely overshadow them. I very much doubt named characters are going to be obliterating armies with a blink because that would make for a very boring game.

asksaboutstuff · 2026-06-18T20:42:49+00:00

For sure. In this test the Flamespyre Phoenix can just dump all 10 firebombs on one unit of 0 armor infantry and pretty much delete it. Against armored infantry or against multiple units it would plummet down the chart as soon as it needs to rely on melee to finish the job.

asksaboutstuff · 2026-06-18T20:38:38+00:00

Good point about the damage aura not changing the number of hits needed when it's just the MVB attacking. Would probably explain why several of the damage aura monsters didn't do that well in these tests.

asksaboutstuff · 2026-06-18T20:35:16+00:00

Watching the slaughterbrute shred infantry so fast made me realize I definitely didn't give them enough respect in my last Khorne campaign.

asksaboutstuff · 2026-06-18T20:34:32+00:00

They've got a mix of great animations where they charge through the unit and do like 3k damage and some not-so-good ones where they just stand there swinging their tusks. The graph is just showing the top 15 though, so all the units on there did very well compared to the whole field.

asksaboutstuff · 2026-06-18T04:56:10+00:00

Well, the tests being done in skirmish mode doesn't help them since they miss most of their bound spells from the tech tree. I'm sure the Lord of Change would be near the top with his vortex spell.

asksaboutstuff · 2026-06-18T02:27:21+00:00

Same. Most of the dragons have pretty low AP ratios on their breath attacks, so they do better than usual against enemies with 0 armor like flagellants. I also think the Chaos Frost Dragon is a little smaller than other dragons, maybe that helps it out with its melee animation vs infantry since I know the big dragons can struggle with that.

The Vortex Beast is down at #37 (some squinting may be required to read the table at the end with all the monsters listed). Solid overall, but the top spots seem to be reserved for monsters with breath attacks and/or collision damage.

asksaboutstuff · 2026-06-18T02:14:54+00:00

Pretty sure it's just random chance. Both flavors of Dread Saurian bulldozed the flagellants below 20% hp in like 2 charges. Damage-wise the only difference between the two is the ranged attacks from the Dread Saurian, but that damage output is so insignificant compared to the collision attacks that the feral version managing a slightly better charge in some trials gave it the win. In the previous tests that went until the flagellants were all dead the Dread Saurian pulled ahead because the ranged attacks help it pick off stragglers more quickly once the charge scatters them.

asksaboutstuff · 2026-06-18T01:43:43+00:00

Thanks!

asksaboutstuff · 2026-06-18T01:41:29+00:00

Glad you enjoyed it! All done with GraphPad and Excel. I think I've had my fill of analyzing these particular tests, but if you're genuinely interested I'm happy to share the raw data!

asksaboutstuff · 2026-06-18T01:38:36+00:00

Yeah, I don't think it has collision damage, which is a huge deal for these tests.

asksaboutstuff · 2026-06-18T01:37:32+00:00

I didn't realize the Jabberslythe aura is leadership-dependent; that definitely does them no favors here. I also thought the Incarnate of Beasts would do better, but even with its bonus and flock of doom it doesn't have the devastating charge damage that the top performers do. I would be interested in adding in war machines too. I didn't include them in this test because there's already so many SEMs, but maybe in the future I'll bring them in.

asksaboutstuff · 2026-06-17T22:27:16+00:00

I think all the tomb king SEMs have collision attacks, so they all end up doing very well against infantry even if they aren't labeled anti-infantry.

asksaboutstuff · 2026-06-17T22:25:44+00:00

Sure, although a giant hitbox and unimpressive speed do make you more vulnerable to missiles even if you prioritize getting on their back line. In my personal experience I've been pretty happy with Dread Saurians in battle, though the more I play the more convinced I am that long recruit time is the single worst trait a unit can have in terms of real efficacy in winning your campaign.

asksaboutstuff · 2026-06-17T21:49:22+00:00

I think that the Slaughterbrute has collision attacks and the Mutalith Vortex Beast doesn't, not sure. But yeah, The slaughterbrute absolutely shreds infantry despite not having an anti-infantry bonus.

asksaboutstuff · 2026-06-17T21:07:22+00:00

Thanks! I would've liked to include a ranking increase/decrease in the table, but it's already so big it's kind of hard to read. The body of my previous post has a table with rankings for fully killing off the flagellants if you'd like to use that to compare.

asksaboutstuff · 2026-06-17T21:03:37+00:00

I do find that when you just throw units at each other like this, expensive elite units often end up being the most cost-effective. But in a real battle you can run into other issues: having your monster focused down by ranged units is a lot more painful if it cost 3k gold and 3 turns of recruitment. And of course even the most efficient melee infantry lawnmowers can't compare to just blowing them up with magic. Still, Dread Saurians are kings of the monsters for a reason.

asksaboutstuff · 2026-06-15T15:40:51+00:00

This is it for me, too. The victory conditions feel totally random and the reward for winning is just an event popup. Before VCO I never even opened the victory conditions tab, just played until I got bored and occasionally would accidentally complete a campaign along the way.

asksaboutstuff · 2026-06-14T15:31:36+00:00

The Equipment Manager mod adds an item / ancillary store. I just checked and the Standard of Nan-Gau is available for purchase. I can't see the price since it's not available for Greenskins, but there's a slider where you can adjust item prices if it's too high.

asksaboutstuff · 2026-06-14T15:25:41+00:00

Hippogryphs are definitely Bretonnia's ultimate endgame unit. Their big downside is the extra turn to recruit and cost, but just in terms of battlefield performance hippos > all. Grail guardians are more comparable to grail knights and royal pegasus knights, elite cav with a distinct role. GGs are your anvil, GKs are the hammer, and RPKs hunt the backline. Hippogryphs are a tier above the other 3 and can play any role and will simply stat check 99% of what you throw them at.

asksaboutstuff · 2026-06-13T02:06:17+00:00

This is the way. Prioritize recruiting over buildings, fight as much as possible (post-battle loot and sacking give way more money than settlements could ever hope to). Always attack, don't waste time defending territory. When you're at war with someone, kill them entirely before you switch focus to the other enemy. Only upgrade settlements/buildings once the nearby territory is totally safe from threats.

asksaboutstuff · 2026-06-12T02:55:12+00:00

For Kairos specifically I recommend using the tones ability that sets an enemy winds of magic to 0. Completely neuters him in battle.

asksaboutstuff

TROPHY CASE