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Author Topic: War Altar Mathhammer  (Read 1741 times)

Offline SoonerSox

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War Altar Mathhammer
« on: August 01, 2015, 03:11:01 PM »
I was brushing up on abilities listed on the warscrolls before my games today and decided to number crunch a comparison between 2 similar spells available to the War Altar.

Righteous Fury: Until your next hero phase you can reroll failed hit rolls for the unit in the combat phase.

Holy Fervour: Until your next hero phase, you can add 1 to the unit's run rolls, charge rolls, and hit rolls in the combat phase.

Holy Fervour seems better with its extra bonuses but according to my math, for hitting purposes, Righteous Fury is slightly better.

Using 100 attacks, rounding decimals and a 3+ hit stat:

RF: 67 average hits to start, reroll 33 fails and gain another 22 hits for a total of 89.

HF: According to my wonky math adding one to a hit roll that needs a 3+ would mean you would hit 84 times out of a hundred.

Hopefully someone better at math can confirm this for me.

Offline Darknight

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Re: War Altar Mathhammer
« Reply #1 on: August 01, 2015, 03:19:27 PM »
Your initial math is solid - RF = 100 attacks = 66.66.. hits and 33.33 misses (which are rerolled). 22.22.. further hits. Total is 88.88.. hits
HF = 100 attacks, hitting on 3+ with a bonus (meaning 2+) = 5/6 hit = 83.33.. hits

So, out of 100 attacks (!!!!) you get about 5.5 more hits. This is technically better, but it is SO minor as to be almost insignificant.

It is a spell directed at units, not area effect - so you are likely to be getting nearer 20 or 40 attacks. You are looking then at a bonus of 1 or 2 more hits (which translates to probably less than 1 wound more).

The additional bonuses for HF make it a better spell - UNLESS your unit is already IN combat and doesn't need to move or charge or do anything except put the boot in.

However; note also that the maths changes based on whether or not there are other bonuses. If you are hitting on a 3+ normally, and you have a +1 to hit bonus from elsewhere, then +1 to hit is infinitely better than rerolls ... you can roll a die twice and get 1 (we've all done it...) but you can't roll a die once and get less than 1....
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Offline SoonerSox

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Re: War Altar Mathhammer
« Reply #2 on: August 01, 2015, 03:27:34 PM »
Thanks for the math lesson :) and yes, I intend to use Holy Fervour until I'm in combat then switch to Righteous Fury. Combining those with a WP's Hammer of Sigmar is bringing the Khorne out in me LOL.

Offline Darknight

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Re: War Altar Mathhammer
« Reply #3 on: August 01, 2015, 05:34:14 PM »
On the subject of math...

AoS is interesting because it  does not cap at 2+; you can have autohit/wound. So the math becomes interesting.

A unit which hits on 2 and wounds on 4 will (with a nominal 36 attacks) get 30 hits and 15 wounds. If you have the choice of a +1 to either hit or wound, the average results are;

+1 hit / 4+ wound = 36 hits, 18 wounds
2+ hit / 3+ wound = 30 hits, 20 wounds

Although it seems good to get the autohit, in this case the situation is very distinct.

Also, bear in mind that all bonuses and penalties both stack AND apply to the role, not target. So, if you stack bonuses to get an effective 0+ to hit 1) you are actually adding something to your roll (eg +2) rather than changing the target. So if you roll a 4 that is a six and will trigger special rules that need a six to activate. Also, 2) it may be worth getting stacked bonuses to give and effective 0+ or better to hit in order to increase the chances of triggering such rules and to counteract enemy minuses.
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Offline StealthKnightSteg

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Re: War Altar Mathhammer
« Reply #4 on: August 01, 2015, 06:11:45 PM »
Also, bear in mind that all bonuses and penalties both stack AND apply to the role, not target. So, if you stack bonuses to get an effective 0+ to hit 1) you are actually adding something to your roll (eg +2) rather than changing the target. So if you roll a 4 that is a six and will trigger special rules that need a six to activate. Also, 2) it may be worth getting stacked bonuses to give and effective 0+ or better to hit in order to increase the chances of triggering such rules and to counteract enemy minuses.

This in effect is actually something the new Castellant is working with for his warding ability.
Warding Lantern: blabla
If a Stormcast Eternal unit is chosen it is bathed in the healing energies of the lantern and you can add 1 to all save rolls it has to make until your next hero phase. In addition, until your next hero phase, each time you make a save roll of 7 or more for that unit, one model in the unit heals a wound.

So rolls of a 6 +the 1 is th 7, but getting more save abilities going means a 5 +1 + 1 is also healing
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Offline Darknight

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Re: War Altar Mathhammer
« Reply #5 on: August 01, 2015, 07:29:55 PM »
But, apparently, this is a game for kids. ...
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Offline Baron von Klatz

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Re: War Altar Mathhammer
« Reply #6 on: August 01, 2015, 09:29:00 PM »
Ah, so GW is targeting the Japanese youths now, eh? :-P

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Offline Darknight

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Re: War Altar Mathhammer
« Reply #7 on: August 01, 2015, 10:43:08 PM »
Given the cost of real estate in Japan, I would have expected smaller models.
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Offline Fidelis von Sigmaringen

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Re: War Altar Mathhammer
« Reply #8 on: August 01, 2015, 10:45:12 PM »
Maybe they mistook banzai for bonsai?
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