[Mobius]

I used to put a lot of points into fire warriors. Everyone says they should build the bulk of your army, but how safe are they really? I invest a lot of points and it seems whenever I deploy them, I lose the unit. Not even in assault. Are they meant to be disposable? Do most people seem to think they have high survivability? If not where should the bulk of my army be in?

[Saracen]

Originally Posted by Mobius

I used to put a lot of points into fire warriors. Everyone says they should build the bulk of your army, but how safe are they really? I invest a lot of points and it seems whenever I deploy them, I lose the unit. Not even in assault. Are they meant to be disposable? Do most people seem to think they have high survivability? If not where should the bulk of my army be in?

It really depends on what you're playing against--and having them mounted in devilfish does make them last a lot longer. I only have 1 devilfish, which i use for pathfinders anyway, also--i play mostly space marines and DH's, so I don't tend to take a whole lot of firewarriors.

[Pseudomancer]

Fire warriors don't have high survivability. Even deployed in cover, or against enemies who they get a save against, they'll still die pretty fast if focused. They should be deployed either in cover at long range, with closer hard units to distract the enemy, or they should be used in concentrated, overwhelming force with other army elements to ensure that the enemy dies before they can retaliate. Their short-range rapid fire can be withering; look up Fish of Fury if you haven't already (it doesn't quite work the same way these days; the enemy can shoot back a lot easier, but it's still good for protecting them from assault).

Fire warriors need clever support from the rest of the army... or rather, should be giving the rest of the army clever support. They should be either drawing fire off more valuable assets, or being protected by those assets so they can achieve their own objectives. They should only expose themselves as part of co-ordinated assaults where the goal is to use your overwhelming firepower to make sure the enemy response is crippled.