Types of units in AoS (part 1)

In this first part of the post I'm going to focus on the most common types of units that exist in AoS. The purpose of this post is to serve as a reference for later linking to how to create a list that works well on the tabletop. I want to emphasize that I'm not an expert and that in this guide you will find only my experiences and opinions, which don't have to be representative or useful for other players.

Let's start by defining the roles of the different units that we can find:

Shield Units (also called Wounds Bags)

Shield units must have lots of wounds to absorb damage or have a good save. In AoS a 6+ save is considered a bad save, 5+ is considered a normal save, 4+ is considered a good save, and 3+ or better is considered an excellent save profile. In terms of a wound bag unit, it needs to have at least 30 or more wounds. 

It is essential that every list includes several shield units, and it is great if that unit is also your battleline, because even if they don't do a lot of damage, they are usually cheap. They can be the first line of defense for your army and one of their main tasks is to stand inside an objective waiting for enemy units to attack them. If your enemy is attacking them instead of attacking your heroes or your sword units (see below), your shield unit has fullfilled its function.

Let's see an example of one of the best shield units that I know:

The Chainrasp Horde is a Battleline unit, you can play them in units of 40 models, can be resurrected and they always have a minimum of 5+ save characteristic. Perfect!

Sword Units

Sword units are normally units that can deal a lot of damage even though they don't save much and are expensive. It is essential to carry at least one on your list, but I don't recommend abusing them since they usually die during the course of battle. 

A good sword unit should destroy shield units, and if you have the opportunity, kill the opponent's sword units or their characters. However, my experience tells me that most of the time shield units survive the attacks of a sword unit (even if it is with few miniatures). For this reason, I recommend playing the sword units in defensive mode rather than driving them crazy in the vanguard of your army. It seems a very good idea to run forward as fast as possible to engage them in combat and deal damage, but what I recommend to do is never carry a sword unit alone across the tabletop, but always have it behind a shield unit by placing the sword unit in second line. There are two reasons for this; the first that in this way your sword unit will recieve less damage during your opponent turns (the ranges in AoS are usually limited, while a sword can always move and then try a charge for free) and the second, that you will protect the objective that your shield unit is holding, having the opportunity to do a counter charge.

Example of a desirable situation: your shield unit is protecting an objective and the opponent charges your shield unit with a sword unit. The shield unit will do its job and will try to hold out, and if you have the next turn, you will charge from the second line with your sword unit that has been waiting its moment and will pulverize its sword, hopefully having managed to hold the objective the previous turn and secure it during this turn.

I'm not going to put any example of a sword unit because you know them well, they are the public's favorites!

Hammer Units:

Hammer units are those that have decent stats in both attack and defense, and therefore gain combats in an attrition mode. They are usually expensive, but they are perfect for killing swords. They are surely the best type of unit since they are versatile and their performance improves as the game progresses, but since they are expensive, shields can better fulfill, for example, the task of staying behind while guarding an objective. Their most obvious weaknesses are that they can get stuck in a combat with a shield being unable to kill the target from the opponent and that they are weak against behemoths. Among its pros it can be noted that they are usually independent units and that you can allow yourself to activate them during the combat phase in second place, giving priority to your sword.

One of my favorite hammer unit are the phoenix guard:

Behemoths and Monsters:

Monsters are specialists in inflicting multiple wounds. They are good at killing characters, shield units, hammer units or other monsters. Their problem is that they normally die quickly, they are expensive and except in a scenario they are not very useful in taking objectives. I do not recommend them unless they are a very important part of your strategy or you want to play lots of them, and yet you have to count on that they are very random units. My experience tells me that they are expendable and that in most cases it is better to invest the points in other units.

Fast Units:

When I made my first AoS lists I thought: "how bad are cavalry and flying units, they barely hit and do not save much". Error. Fast units are essential to take objectives, help in a timely moment in a combat, cover flanks and make screens to your characters or the sword units. You should always try to carry at least one.

For example Terradon Riders have an extremely high movement characteristic and they can fly. They can be a good allied unit if your army doesn't have access to this kind of units.

Characters:

From my point of view, the characters seems the most important part of AoS, but they are also the most deceptive. They are very good because they give a lot of bonuses and allow you to sharp your list with combos; but they have several problems: they are expensive, targetable, difficult to play because you have to protect them all the time (they can be left behind easily). 

Another thing that I've been realizing as I play games is that since normally the objectives are usually quite separate, many times you end up dividing your army, so in reality, by not playing in a bubble, the bonuses that the character gives in area lose efficiency. On the other hand, I always recommend bringing at least one magician, not so much because their ability to disperse enemy spells, but because of the mystical shield (one of my favorite spells). 

In summary: the characters are cool, but don't spend lots of points in them and assume that many times they will die quickly. Most of the time it's not worth basing your entire roster on a combo with a specific character because if your rival knows your plan, its easy for them to avoid it.

Expensive characters:

Characters that cost 400 points or more have unique skills that may be impressive, but you have to take care, because AoS is a game based on taking objectives, and your character cannot be in two places at the same time, so you will lose mobility, and you will have few units in your roster. 

I consider these to be the most basic types of AoS units because all units can be identified in some of these categories. In the second part I will analyze more specialized types of units!