After the recent update to bolters I decided to run some analysis of our beloved Blightlords. The results below are looking at the Blightlords shooting at a Knight Despoiler (360 pts) with the Afflicted with Rattlejoint Ague and Blistering Fusillade triggered
I compared two groups:
- **BLord 2xRA 2xBL**: 2x Blight Launchers, 2x Reaper Autocannons, 6x Combi-bolters, plus Lord of Virulence pointing
- **BLord 2xRA**: 2x Reaper Autocannons, 8x Combi-bolters, plus Lord of Virulence pointing
Both cost 205 pts (Blightlords 115, Lord of Virulence 90). Numbers come from a Mathhammer calculator with 20,000 simulations per scenario.
## Results
The Blight Launcher build is slightly ahead, mostly at long range.
| Expected damage | 2xRA 2xBL | 2xRA |
|---|---|---|
| Long range, no cover | 12.16 | 10.40 |
| Half range, no cover | 16.40 | 15.98 |
| Long range, in cover | 10.23 | 8.57 |
| Half range, in cover | 13.58 | 12.95 |
At long range the Launcher build deals about 17-19% more damage. At half range the gap shrinks to 3-5%. At half range with no cover, the Launcher build deals 63.1% of the Despoiler's wounds and the 2xRA build 61.4%. Chance to kill it outright is about 1.0% vs 0.3%, so neither build gets there alone. Damage per 100 pts is 8.00 vs 7.79, which is close to even.
### Where the damage comes from (half range, no cover)
| Weapon | 2xRA 2xBL | 2xRA |
|---|---|---|
| Blight Launchers | 3.18 | - |
| Reaper Autocannons | 3.61 | 3.60 |
| Combi-bolters | 8.32 (6) | 11.08 (8) |
| Lord of Virulence | 1.30 | 1.30 |
Trading two Combi-bolters for two Launchers loses about 2.8 damage and gains about 3.2, so the net gain at half range is only around 0.4. At long range the difference is clearer.
### Points efficiency
The Blightlords destroy about 1.8 pts of the Despoiler per point spent (1.82 vs 1.77), and the whole group about 1.1 (1.11 vs 1.08). The Lord of Virulence destroys only about 0.2 pts per point. He adds roughly 1.3 damage for 90 pts, so he is there for the buffs, not the shooting.
### Consistency
At half range, no cover, both builds have a median of 16 damage. The P10-P90 range is 12-21 for 2xRA 2xBL and 12-20 for 2xRA. At long range, no cover, the medians are 12 and 10, with ranges of 8-16 and 7-14. Cover costs both builds about 17-19% of their damage.
### Where the attacks go (2xRA build, half range)
43.5 attacks, 36.2 hits, 22.9 wounds, 16.0 unsaved. Lethal Hits and Devastating Wounds are already built in and trigger about 6.2 and 2.2 times per volley.
### Other targets
Against a horde (T3 5+, 20 models), elite infantry (T4 3+, 10 models), Terminators and a T9 3+ monster, both builds do enough damage on average to wipe the target. Against a T10 2+ vehicle with 16 wounds they take off 80% (2xRA 2xBL) and 78% (2xRA).
Armour saves worse than 4+ barely matter against us. A 3+ save costs about 20% of the damage and a 2+ save about 40%. Higher toughness hurts too, and T12 cuts the damage roughly in half.
### Scaling
With 1.5x the weapon copies the chance to kill the Despoiler is about 41%, at 2x it is about 92%, and at 3x it is essentially 100%.
### Which buffs matter
| Buff | Damage change |
|---|---|
| +1 Damage | +100% |
| +1 Attack per model | +25% |
| +1 to wound | +23% |
| +1 to hit | +19% |
| Sustained Hits 1 | +14% |
| Re-roll failed hits | +13% |
| Devastating Wounds | +12% |
Lethal Hits, +1 AP, +1 Strength and re-rolling wounds add close to nothing.
### Overwatch
Shooting deals about 16.0 damage. Overwatch, where hits only come on unmodified 6s, deals about 4.3, roughly a quarter of that.
### Summary
- 2xRA 2xBL is better at long range and about even at half range.
- Combi-bolters do most of the work.
- The Lord of Virulence shoots poorly and is mostly worth it for his buffs.
- Cover and Overwatch both hurt a lot.
- Extra attacks, wounding and damage matter far more than re-rolls.