Change in Meta, are Maneaters now the answer??

Hey Guys.

I've always been a massive fan of Mournfang, but now with the change in meta with all this undead and chaos stuff, are Maneaters now better???

5 Maneaters, Full Command with 2 AHW and 1 GW, and choice of Perks is around the same cost of 4 Mournfang with IF and HA with Command.

This is something that has been a debate for a long time with people favouring there option due to play style.
But I seem to be dropping my Mournfang down to 2 units of 2, due to the amount of undead caskets and death spells.
Yes, try and keep within the 12" bubble, but they are M8 or 9 with banner, so baby sitting there dodgy LD with banners can help.

Last game, my unit of 4 Mournfang was down to 1 before I even moved from deployment. 310 pts gonna!!!
With the Maneater they are LD8 from the off, and now with the option of 50% in lords stick in the Tyrant for LD9 and still be able to run slaughtermaster.

I'm also seeing more and more spirt hosts and with no magic attacks with Mournfang, movement is sometimes a pain!

Any thoughts around this guys??

I think it depends a lot on what you are facing.  The meta changes a lot depending on your location.

The main reason ogre players bring mournfang is that it is our most defensive unit.  We can have a 2+ on those, which we can't get on anything else (armor of silvered steel notwithstanding).  However, people recognize them as a major threat, so they are going to draw a lot of fire.

Maneaters are great.  More wounds for (slightly) cheaper, and a variety of special rules that are super useful.  Depending on how you play them, they can be more or less effective than mournfang.  It just depends on what you are doing with them and what you expect them to do.

As LawGnome states "the Meta" isn't a universal thing, it's localized. My Meta is totally different to yours because the number of gamers and the armies they field will no doubt be different. Both have merits in their own right and definitely fulfill different roles within our army. Don't forsake the 4-5 man MFC units altogether, they are awesome. Just use them when you have a damn good chance of wrecking face with them. Also try to avoid the End Times BS with them, they will be blasted apart in no time with all these Loremasters running around.

Like you guys are saying, I think it's down to end times and the fact it's new.
I won't stop using my Mournfang as I have 10 lol. They fit my play style and I love all out with unit of 5 and 2 units of 2, elves cry!!

There is different armies where I play but I like to find a build that's work to fit all. So I've started to find that the Mournfang are now becoming more as anti chaff units than hammers.

So I've turned to Maneaters as a new approach to see if it works better. A Maw Lv4 caster seems to be needed due t the lack of armour saves. I would have loved Ironfists as a option, but GW didn't gives us that.

Plus there S5 every attack, better LD and WS4.

Think I will try 7 with 2 AHW, 1 GW for Champ, poison and free Stubborn. Stick in my Tyrant tank with BSB and Slaughtermaster Lv4 Fencers build.

I've used them before but more as early scouts so Mournfang Bus can move up. Worked ok with ITP.

I've had similar issues with this End Times malarkey in my area. At the end of the day it's an expansion to the existing game and is therefor not compulsory. People can't force it down your throat if you don't want to play it. The same was true for Storm of Magic. Just lay down the law and say no End Times rules. Play normal Warhammer and limit all the new gimmicks. Sure the 50% Lords/Heroes limitation is now an official thing but all the other stuff can be restricted if you don't agree to an End Times game.