3 Yhetees vs a Hunter and his pussies!

Hi all.
I have a 2250 army list with the usual gubbins ie Tyrant with tend, 2 butchers etc and was toying with the idea of having 3 Yhetees for variation.
Then i thought to myself for 5 points less i could have a hard hitting character with his 1 shot harpoon gun (as that's about the usual amount of shots you get before you want him in combat) and his 2 cats which rock!!! Also, the option of more trappers.
So, what do you think would be the better buy?
Thanks guys, for your help

I'd go for the hunter+cats+trappers unit everytime in this choice.

I personally have a free Special choice a lot more often than a free Hero choice, so I'd go with the Yhetees.

I have also had a bit more luck with them than with the Hunter, since they can chew their way through things that have vulnerabilities to magical attacks.

I'm not a fan of either, but the Yhetees would be better in my opinion, they have 1 more wound(Though the Hunter has T5) are at -1 to be hit in combat and have magical weapons, they also ignore terrain.

I would go for the Hunter and Kittys plus a unit of trappers. For a few more points and you can give him the Greyback Pelt! The bolt throw is a real nice stand and shoot weapon plus the trappes with him and stand and shoot for him to!

If you have other expendable units in the army or points sinks (ex: really expensive magic items, Tyrants over 280 pts., etc.) then get both! Yhetees work well especially against stuff with high armour as flankers and hunters are also good flankers with longstrider BN.

I am a big fan of the Hunter, kitties, longstrider big name, and the additional trappers. My main purpose for them is to hunt war machines and to flank and get behind enemy lines. I always use my gorgers to assist, and with a little luck, by turn three, the hunter and two gorgers are wreaking confusion in my opponent’s lines.

I have not used yhetees yet, and in all of my games playing with my OK army, I only have had one occasion where I lamented no yhetees.

wow, great topic.  I am building an Ogre force and considering the Hunter.

the Yhetees... are at -1 to be hit in combat

Having experience with a nurgle demon army, that is one of the most under-appreciated but powerful abilities in the game. Survival is about making sure that fewer rolls to wound are made, and this ability gives a huge bonus to that. High toughness plus hard to hit means the unit will stick around long enough to be sure the job gets done in hand-to-hand.

Cheers,

Andrew

the Yhetees... are at -1 to be hit in combat

Having experience with a nurgle demon army, that is one of the most under-appreciated but powerful abilities in the game. Survival is about making sure that fewer rolls to wound are made, and this ability gives a huge bonus to that. High toughness plus hard to hit means the unit will stick around long enough to be sure the job gets done in hand-to-hand.

Cheers,

Andrew

SOLD!  Yhetees it is for me.  Ohh wait not my thread.  Anyhow good point.

Just rember that Yhetees have no Armour and no ward save so protect them!!! Hunters are a hard hitting charater that will also give you some fast cav with his kittys and you can take an extra unit of Trappers!

I'm not a math guy, but the -1 to hit yhetees is essentially their hand-to-hand armor save.

Let's say a unit of 3 yetis are facing an average foe: Skaven clanrats. WS 3, Str 3 folks, with a champion.

So that's 6 attacks (5 wide plus champ) at WS 3 vs. the Yhetee's WS 3. Normally that would be a 4+ to hit, averaging 3 hits. The yhetee's ability turns that into a 5+ to hit, so only 2 hits.

Then the clanrats roll to wound. Their Str 3 on Yhetee Toughness 4 means 5+ to wound. So with 2 hits, that means the average number of wounds is less than one (0.4). So it's a lucky day to get one wound in.

If the yhetees did not have their special ability, then there would be 3 chances to roll a wound, making 1 wound likely on average. Versus a unit with ranks and a standard, taking a wound can be the difference.

Now replace the -1 to hit with an armor save. Note that if the yhetees were to have an armor save that gave them the same average number of wounds (as the -1 to hit) when their foe scores 3 hits and 1 wound, it would need to be at least a 4+ save.

The more attacks that come in, the better that this fares.

Think about the same skaven unit, with spears. Now it's 11 attacks at WS 3 S 3.

Normally that would mean an average of 5.5 hits (1/2 hit on 4+). With the special ability, that reduces to a little under 4 hits (only 1/3 hit on 5+). Less rolls to wound mean less chances to need to make an armor save in the first place. With strength 3, an average of just under 2 wounds occur with the special ability, while almost 3 wounds (a whole yhetee) would happen without the -1. Thus, the ward/armor save would have to have at least a 1/3 chance of stopping them (so equivalent to a 5+ save).

Armor save/ward save would be nice for shooting, but in hand to hand, I've found that the -1 can be equally helpful.

The -1 is also great for really bad WS enemies (i.e. WS 2 goblins) as they would then need a 6+ to hit. And it helps somewhat against high WS foes as well. 3+ to hit going to 4+ to hit is a great thing. From 2/3 of the attacks landing to 1/2 the attacks landing is great against characters (who often have 3 attacks).

Anyhow, my two cents.

Cheers,

Andrew Lotz

Nice point GreatEscape.  This can be very helpful for game play.

The -1 is also great for really bad WS enemies (i.e. WS 2 goblins) as they would then need a 6+ to hit.

Incorrect.  It goes from 4+ to 5+.  Against WS1 Troops (is there anything WS1??) this is true.

yes the -1 is very helpful but you could just as easily put the greyback pelt on the hunter and make him -1 and ignore terrain with his cats, while still having the fast cavalry and the harpoon shot.
my opinion the hunter is the way to go.

Armor save/ward save would be nice for shooting, but in hand to hand, I've found that the -1 can be equally helpful.

Realistically speaking, Yhetees should be the ones charging and therefore striking first, hopefully leaving few or no enemies to strike back at all. Thus a -1 to be hit in close combat is not particularly good.

Avian has a point, but when people say they prefer a hunter with Greyback Pelt, 2 Cats, and a trapper unit, thats 268pts, compared to the 195pts from 3 yhetees. that just over 2 more naked bulls. And it is more common to have a spare special slot than a hero slot aswell.